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GEORGE     GREY    BARNARD'S     LOUISVILLE     LINCOLN 

(■Copyright    Photograph    by    Caufield    and    Shook,    Louisville. 

And     used     by    special     permission.) 


In  The  Ohio  Valley 

by 

LUCIEN  V.  RULE 

With  Historic  Summaries  by 

REV.  CHAS.  R.  ERDMAN,  D.  D. 

REV.  THORNTON  WHALING,  D.  D. 

REV.  HENRY  VAN  DYKE,  D.  D. 

REV.  WARREN  H.  WILSON,  D.  D. 


PRESS    OF 

BRANDT    &    FOWLER 

LOUISVILLE.    KY. 

1927 


Copyright  1927 

by 

LUCIEN  V.  RULE 


1Z0.071 


•Tb  my  Friend 
OTTO  A.  <ROTHERT 


Chapter  Contents  and  Subject  Index 

The    Basis    of    Abiding    Union XII 

The   Log-  Cabin  and   the   Log  College XVII 

How    the    Ohio    Valley    Was    Settled XX 

I.     FORERUNNERS      OP      LINCOLN 3 

Forerunners    and    Restorers 4 

II.     My    Romancer    and    Social    Hero 6 

III.  The    Old    Louisville    Presbytery 10 

The    Old    Goshen    Church 10 

Dr.    Crowe    is    Ordained 11 

Fox   Run   Meeting   House 11 

IV.  Gideon   Blackburn   and    the  Log  Colleges    of   Long   Ago 13 

Gideon    Blackburn     and    Grandmother    Snowden 14 

The    First   Log   College    and    its    Founder 15 

Education     and     Regeneration 17 

Gideon   Blackburn's   Log  College   and   Teacher 18 

Wisdom    in    the    Backwoods 18 

The    School    of    Hardship 19 

V.      John   Finley  Crowe,    Hanover   College  and    Old   Vernon   Church  20 

An     Old-Time     Home-Coming 20 

Shying   Off   the   Amen    Corner 21 

John    Finley   Crowe    Described 23 

Comes    to    Hanover 23 

Early    Religious    Awakening- 25 

Educated    on    Whiskey    Money 26 

"Whom.   Having   Not   Seen,   We   Love" 26 

Paying   for   an    Education    Long   Ago 27 

Old-Time     Communion     Meetings 27 

Raising    Money    for    Old    Hanover 2  7 

Murder    of    Prof.    Butler 28 

VI.      THE    GREATEST    OF    ALL    KENTUCKIANS 30 

VII.      The    Father    of    America's    Greatest    Sculptor 34 

The   Sculptor's    Vision    of    Love    and    Death 34 

The    Mother    Memories    of    a    Great    Father 35 

Preaching    His    Own    Mother's    Funeral 36 

The    Love    Side    of    Calvinism 37 

VIII.      Barnard's    Own    Story    of   His    Louisville    Lincoln 38 

IX.      Doctor   Barnard   As   the   Author   Saw   Him.  .  .\ 42 

X.      "A     Sculptor's     Dream" 46 

XL      Lincoln's    Pastor    in    Springfield 51 

Life    of   Rev.    Jaimes   Smith,    D.    D 5  5 

XII.      THE    FIRST    GREAT    FORERUNNERS 59 

The    College    and    University 63 

John     Finley    Crowe 64 

Dr.   Crowe    and    Dr.    Blackburn 65 

XIII.  Parson  John  Todd  and  the  Charlestown   and   Goshen  Churches  66 

The   Jane    Todd    Romance 67 

The    Oldham    Todds 67 

Parson    Todd's     Pastorate 6S 

Parson    Todd    the    Educator 69 

Tragedy    of    Parson    Todd's    Ministry 69 

XIV.  New    Traditions    of    the    Old    Charlestown    Church 71 

Investigation  by  Pastor   Hurst 72 

James    Vance     12 

More    About    Jonathan    Jennings 73 

Thomas   CI  eland    and    Zachary    Taylor 74 

XV.      The   Romance  of  Samuel   Snowden   and   Beautiful   .lane    Todd..  75 

Lines    to    a    Lady 79 

Selected    for    Miss    Todd 79 

The     Parting     Hour SO 

Acrostic   for   Miss    I.    J.    T Sit 

XVI.     Parson    Todd    Passes   into    History 84 

Story    of    John    Todd,    Senior 84 

John    Todd,     Junior 85 

Dr.    Edson   Speaks    for   John    Todd 86 

The   Case   of   Rev.   James   Moore 87 

John    Todd,    the    Scholar S7 

A    Lost    Spiritual    Portrait 87 

XVII.      Archibald    Cameron    and    John    Finley   Crowe 89 


VI 


Chapter  Contents  and  Subject  Index — Continued 

XVIII.    David    Nelson,    A    Forerunner    of    First    Rank 90 

The     Conflict     with     French     Infidelity 91 

XIX.      Slavery  and  the  Old  and   New  School  Struggle 95 

XX.      The  Clergy   of  Old  Virginia  and   New   England 9  7 

XXI.     THE    OLD    SETTLERS'    MBETIN' 102 

The    Orators    of    the    Day 103 

"Uncle    Dan"    Makes    a    Hit 103 

Inspiration     and     Perspiration 104 

The    Honorable    Spreadeagle 105 

Congressman    and    Collegian 106 

XXII.      Freemasonry   and    Human    Freedom 10S 

Indiana     109 

The    Jennings    Family 110 

The     Jennings     Brothers 110 

A    School    of    the    Frontier 112 

XXIII.  The    Teacher    of    Jonathan    Jennings 113 

Judge   Addison,    the    Poor    Boy's    Friend 113 

The    Boy    Who    Malkes    the    Man 114 

Jonathan    Jennings    Goes    to    Indiana 115 

"No   Slavery   in   Indiana" ...! 116 

XXIV.  A   Memorable   Race    for   Congress) 118 

Jonathan    Jennings    and    Thomas    Carr 119 

XXV.     Obadiah     Jennings     121 

Thomas    and    Alexander    Campbell 122 

Obadiah    Jennings    and    Alexander   Campbell 122 

The    Closing    Years 123 

Samuel      K.      Jennings 124 

The    Monument    to    Governor    Jennings 124 

Tragedy    of    the    Two    Jenningis    Brothers 125 

XXVI.      THE    OLD    MT.    TABOR    CAMP    MEETING 129 

XXVII.      John    M.     Dickey 134 

XXVIII.     Address   at    the   Funeral    of   Rev.    Ninian   S.    Dickey 137 

Rev.    N.    S.    Dickey 140 

XXIX.      The    Father    of    Hoosier    Home    Missions 143 

XXX.      Rev.    Ninian   S.   Dickey's    Reminiscences    of    Rev.    Henry    Little  148 

XXXI.      PAGEANT    EPISODES    OF    OLD    VERNON    TOWN 153 

The     Vawter     Pioneers 153 

Rev.    Jesse    Vawter '  154 

John    Vawter    of    Vernon 156 

Pageant    Scenes    of    Indian    Days 156 

XXXII.      Indian    Terror    of    1812    Across    the    River 158 

XXXIH.      Old    Academy    and    High    School    in    Vernon 167 

Backwoods    Ignorance    Long    Ago 167 

Old     Graham     Church 168 

Rocky    Soil    and    Rugged    Men 168 

Early    Baptist     Teachers ■ 169 

Hanover    Sends    Teachers    to    Vernon 170 

William    H.    Venable,     Poet-Teacher 171 

Albert    Edward    Wig-gam .'  172 

XXXIV.      The    Rod    and    the    Child 175 

XXXV.      The     Ward-Butler     Tragedy 179 

XXXVI.      Guilty    or    Not    Guilty? 183 

XXXVII.     A  House   Not  Made  With   Hands 1S5 

For    Rank    and    File 185 

George    Shideler's    Dream 1SG 

A    New    Generation : 188 

XXXVIII.      THE    OLD    SOUTH    IN    THE    NEW 190 

XXXIX.     Bluegrass    Abolitionists     195 

Testimony    of    John    Mason    Brown 195 

The  Man    Who  Made   Kentucky   a  Slave  State 196 

The    Preachers    and    the    Politicians 196 

And    a    Friend    of    Thomas    Jefferson 197 

Another    Forerunner    Raised    Up 197 

A    Church    of    Bluegrass    Abolitionists 197 

John    Rankin    Measures    Up 199 

Heroic     Records     Restored 199 

Rev.   John    Rankin   and    Rev.    John   Rule 200 


VII 


Chapter  Contents  and  Subject  Index — Continued 

XL.      Rev.    John    Rankin,    Southern    Apostle    of    Abolition 201 

His     Religious     Awakening- 203 

Educated     under    Dr.    Doak 203 

His    Marriag-e 203 

Sojourn     in     Kentucky 204 

Apostle    of    Abolition 204 

His    Famous    '"Letters    On    Slavery" 205 

Other    Notable    Articles 205 

Helps   Mrs.   Stowe    with    "Uncle    Tom's   Cabin" 206 

Suffering-     for     Freedom 207 

Last    Days    and     Death 209 

Sources     209 

XLI.      Lyman    Beecher    and    Charles    G.    Finney 210 

Rise    of    Charles    G.    Finney 211 

Theodore   Weld — The   Young   Abolitionist 214 

XLII.      Henry    Ward    Beecher    at    Lawrenceburg 217 

Value     of     the     Village     Church 217 

New    Lamps   and    Hymn   Books 221 

His    First    Revival 222 

First    Sermon    On    Slavery 222 

XLIII.      The   Beecher-Wilson   Battle   Over   Old   School   and    New 224 

Youth    and    the    Aftermath    of    War 22 1 

Studying    the    Great    Struggle 224 

Saimuel     R.     Wilson 225 

Lyman  Beecher   Meets  his  Antagonist 227 

Joshua    Lacy    Wilson 227 

Sbory     of     "Old    Silver     Fist" 227 

Young-     Wilson    Awakens 228 

How    Lyman    Beecher  Came   to    Lane    Seminary 229 

Dr.   Wilson   Goes   With   the    Old   School 230 

The   Battle    Royal   Begins 231 

Judge    Wilson's    Strong    Defense 231 

XLIV.      Inside    Story    of    the   Old    and    New    School    Struggle     234 

Dr.    Wilson    Called    to   Cincinnati 234 

The    Old    First    Church 235 

Mutterings     of    the     Coming    Storm 236 

Dr.    Wilson's    Son    His    Armor-Bearer 237 

The    Old    School    Adds    a  Champion 23  7 

The    Wilson-Beecher    Battle    Renewed 238 

George    Beecher    Encounters     Trouble 238 

Albert    Barnes    Writes    to    Lyman    Beecher 240 

Beecher    and    Barnes    Counsel    Moderation 241 

Dr.    Beecher    Acquitted:    The    Storm    Breaks 242 

XLV.      The    Abolition    Crisis    Comes 243 

The   Passing-   of  Colonization 244 

Garrison    Strikes    the    Slave    Trade 244 

The    Voice    of   a   Prophet 24  4 

The   South   Aroused   to    Resist 245 

The     Irrepressible     Conflict 24  7 

XLVI.     And    There    Stood    Andrew    Jackson 24 s 

Rev.    John    Todd     Edgar 249 

Story   of   a  Great   Sermon 252 

A    Memorable    Communion    Service 252 

The    Crisis    Over   Slavery    253 

A  Famous   Defense   of   Slavery 254 

Andrew    Jackson    and    the    Federal    Union 256 

A   Question   of   Social  Conscience 257 

XLVII.     Cassius   M.  Clay,    John   G.    Fee   and   Berea  College.  . 259 

Cassius    Clay    and    Wm.    Lloyd    Garrison 261 

Beginnings    of    Berea  College 2  64 

Rev.    John    G.    Fee 265 

XLVIII.      Dr.   Samuel   R.   Wilson's   Story   of   "The   Declaration    and    Tes- 
timony"         267 

After     Lincoln's     Assassination 2  67 

At     the     Pittsburgh     Assembly 268 

Conference    of    Border   State    Men 269 

Meting    in    Dr.    Van    Dyke's    Study 269 

Dr.    Wilson    Faces   Dr.    Breckinridge 270 

Action    of    the    Kentucky    Synod 27  2 

An    Open    Door    to    Peace 2,2 

Dr.    Wilson's    Tribute    to    Dr.    Van    Dyke 273 

And     to     Dr.     Scott 273 

Alain     Points    Contended    For 2,,.', 

Dr.    Van    Dyke    Summarizes    the    Crisis 27 1 


VIII 


Chapter  Contents  and  Subject  Index — Continued 

XLIX.      A    Political    Tragedy    and    Its    Lesson    276 

How    the    Tragedy    Came   About 277 

Thomas     B.     Terhune 279 

The     Law     and     the     Prophets SO 

Evading    the    Call    of    God , 282 

The    Return    and    Triumph 282 

L.     THE    BEAUTY    OP    LINCOLN 285 

LI.     The      Gideons      and      Gamaliels 2S8 

LII.    Spiritual     Trail-Blazers      293 

LIU.     The     Fruit     of     the     Family     Tree 297 


IX 


REV.  CHARLES  R.  ERDMAN,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


XI 


^Ut  %-amim  tit  ^khihing  3dnmn 

*    *    *    * 

TO   CHARLES   R.   ERDMAN. 

Once  in  the  cycle  of  each  hundred  years 

Cometh   a   crisis   to   the  Church   of   God. 

When   truly   "treading  where  the  saints  have   trod," 

We  must  encounter  hidden  foes  and  fears. 

In   Truth's  behalf   our  lot  is   toil   and   tears; 

For  Freedom's  sake  we  feel  the  chastening  rod. 

And  consecrate   anew   the   ensanguined   sod 

With   Jacob    wrestlings   till    the   Dawn    appears. 

Summoned  of  Christ,   the  Wondrous  Counsellor, 

His   undershepherd   thou   to   paths   of  peace! 

After  the  winepress   and  the   wrath   of  War 

Thy  voice  and  spirit  bade  dark   passions  cease: 

And  with  Love's  vision  lifted  and  sublime. 

We   face  the   future  of  our   race  and   time. 


If  ever  the  words  of  Mordecai  to  Esther  (in  the  period  of  ancient  Jewish 
peril  as  the  providential  hope  and  dependence  of  her  people)  were  applicable  to  a 
man  of  God  in  a  momentous  crisis  of  the  Church  and  Nation,  they  apply  to 
Charles  R.  Erdman  as  Moderator  of  our  U.  S.  A.  Assembly  at  one  of  the  supreme 
moments  of  our  history:  "Who  knoweth  whether  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom 
for  such   a   time  as  this?" 

That  is  why  it  is  so  eminently  fitting  for  Dr.  Erdman  to  have  the  "Fore- 
word" of  this  centennial  account  of  the  spiritual  and  social  Liberators  of  our  faith 
who  blazed  the  way  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  Ohio  Valley  when  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  yet  a  youth.  The  issues  and  struggles  of  the  Civil  War  were  pain- 
fully and  perilously  present  upon  the  floor  of  every  General  Assembly  in  that 
generation,  one  hundred  years  ago.  And  Charles  Beecher  most  truly  says  of  that 
body,   in  the  Life  of  his  eminent   father,   Dr.    Lyman   Beecher: 

"The  General  Assembly  was  one  of  the  most  impressive  as  well  as  powerful 
bodies  in  the  world.  On  its  floor  were  some  of  the  ablest,  wisest,  most  enter- 
prising, and  influential  men  from  almost  every  State  in  the  Union.  In  its  rela- 
tion to  educational,  charitable,  and  missionary  enterprises,  in  the  appellate  jurisdic- 
tion of  hundreds  of  local  churches,  it  swayed  a  power  rivalling,  if  not  really  sur- 
passing, that  of  Congress,  and  affecting  not  merely  the  religious,  but  the  civil 
interests  of  the  nation;  opening  an  arena  on  which  discussions  of  the  most 
momentous  questions  were  debated  by  practiced  speakers,  animated  by  the  highest 
motives,  temporal  and  spiritual,  that  can  lend  fire  to  oratory  or  enhusiasm  to 
controversy. 

"In  the  eyes  of  multitudes  of  Christians,  its  symmetrical  structure  from  Ses- 
sion   to    Presbytery,    Presbytery    to    Synod.    Synod    to    General    Assembly,    was    the 

XII 


ideal  of  representative  government,  perfect  in  every  detail,  free  from  the  defects  of 
civil  organizations,  scriptural,  spiritual,  a  kingdom  of  Christ,  'clear  as  the  sun, 
fair  as  the  moon,   and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners'. 

Robert  Ellis  Thompson  relates  with  a  touch  of  humor,  in  his  "History  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,"  how  Dr.  Beman,  Moderator  of 
the  New  School  Assembly  in  183  8,  had  on  one  occasion  (after  the  adjournment 
of  an  Assembly  stirring  and  historic  in  these  heated  discussions)  visited  President 
Jackson  to  condole  with  him  over  his  political  troubles.  Old  Hickory  looked  at 
the  Doctor  with  a  gleam  of  grim  humor  in  his  eye,  and  said:  "Now,  to  tell 
you  the  truth,  Dr.  Beman,  these  fellows  don't  worry  me  half  so  much  as  do  the 
dissentions    in    the   Presbyterian    Church." 

Even  the  President  of  the  Unied  States,  who  was  himself  a  Presbyterian,  felt 
a  deeper  concern  for  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church  of  his  faith  and  fathers 
than  he  did  for  the  pacification  of  his  political  enemies.  And  while  those  heated 
issues  had  to  be  threshed  out  and  fought  over  not  only  on  the  Assembly  floor 
but  also  on  the  field  of  battle  and  blood,  may  we  not  derive  vision  and  truth 
of  untold  value  for  our  own  times  and  tasks  by  a  reverent  and  dispassionate  con- 
templation of  those  great  souls  and  struggles?  The  peace,  unity,  and  progress 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  our  entire  country  is  no  vain  dream  of  the  years 
ahead;  and  Dr.  Erdman's  "Foreword"  touches  the  living  theme  of  our  Civil 
War  with  the  same  characteristic  genius  and  gentleness  that  have  enrolled  him 
among  the  great  Moderators  of  our  history. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ABIDING  UNION 
By  The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.  D.,  LL.  D..  Princeton,  N.  J. 

One  of  the  darkest  tragedies  of  all  history  was  the  war  which  was  waged 
between  the  sovereign  States  of  the  American  Union.  That  such  a  conflict  should 
have  occurred  is  almost  as  incredible  as  it  is  tragic,  because  of  the  sacred  ties  of 
blood  and  brotherhood  and  inheritance  and  faith  by  which  the  contestants  previ- 
ously had  been   united. 

What  is  hardly  less  surprising  is  the  reunion  which  has  come  to  pass,  the 
forbearance  and  forgiveness  which  have  been  manifested,  and  the  loyalty  to  the 
one  government  in  its  needs  and  its  aims  which  has  been  shown  by  every  section 
of    the    great    Republic. 

More  recently  those  who  once  might  have  chosen  the  blue  or  the  gray  have 
fought  in  uniforms  of  the  same  color  and  followed  the  same  flag.  Half  a  cen- 
tury of  common  effort  and  of  national  enterprise  and  progress  has  done  much 
to  heal  the  wounds  of  war  and  to  restore  the  consciousness  of  Christian  brother- 
hood which  alone  can  be  the  basis  of  abiding  union. 

Sometime  ago  the  writer  was  seated  in  the  room  in  which  General  Robert  E. 
Lee  died.  My  host  might  properly  have  been  described  as  a  distinguished  son  of 
the  Confederacy.  He  embodied  the  convictions,  the  culture,  the  genial  disposition 
and  the  best  traditions  of  the  South;  while  I  was  known  to  be  in  every  sense 
a  Northerner.  My  father  had  volunteered  in  the  first  days  of  the  war;  he  had 
served  under  Custer  and  Sheridan  and  had  been  present  at  the  fall  of  Richmond. 
However,  in  the  very  home  of  Lee,  I  was  being  entertained  with  open-hearted 
hospitality    and    with    every    mark    of    Christian    courtesy.       A    little    later    I    stood 


XIII 


near  the  famous  recumbent  statue  of  General  Lee,  and  addressed  an  audience  of 
American  students  on  the  subject  of  the  characteristics  which  make  for  good  citi- 
zenship and  which  qualify  men  for  efficient  service  in  the  Church  and  in  the 
State. 

What  made  such  an  anomalous  situation  possible?  Why  should  a  representa- 
tive of  Princeton  have  been  made  welcome  in  Lexington?  Why  should  such  an 
occasion  pass  without  remark  and  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course?  Above  all 
else,  for  this  reason,  that  all  of  us  concerned  were  meeting  on  a  common  platform 
with  mutual  confidence  as  followers  of  Christ.  Whatever  else,  due  to  memory  or 
conviction,  might  have  divided  us,  a  deep  sense  of  loyalty  to  our  Divine  Master 
and  Lord,  a  desire  to  do  His  will,  a  belief  that  His  laws  contain  the  ultimate 
solution  for  all  the  problems  of  social  and  political  and  industrial  life,  made  us 
consciously    one. 

There  are  other  influences  which  assure  an  abiding  union  of  the  South  and 
the  North,  but  none  is  more  potent  than  the  power  of  Christian  faith.  For 
instance,  there  exists  an  unquestioning  allegiance  to  a  Constitution  which,  whether 
interpreted  as  giving  more  or  less  power  to  the  separate  States  or  to  the  central 
government,  is  everywhere  accepted  as  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land. 

There  exists,  too,  a  universal  love  for  the  free  institutions  which  have  come 
to  us  all  as  a  rich  heritage  from  the  fathers  of  our  country,  under  whose  leader- 
ship  all   the  Colonies   were   united   in   securing   national   independence. 

There  are  the  great  industrial  and  economic  advances,  bringing  with  incred- 
ible rapidity  changes  in  the  social  and  political  life  of  all  sections  of  the  land, 
which  have  tended  to  unite  us  as  a  people  bv  bonds  of  common  interest  and 
endeavor.  The  development  of  the  great  West  and  of  Florida  and  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  has  made  us  less  conscious  of  the  division   between  North   and   South. 

The  disappearance  of  slavery,  an  institution  which  was  the  occasion  of  bitter 
discussion  and  of  strife,  an  institution  which  no  one  desires  to  restore,  has  left 
serious  race  problems,  the  solution  of  which  is  demanding  the  united  interest  and 
effort  of  thoughtful  citizens  throughout  the  whole  land. 

There  are  serious  questions  of  international  relationships  in  which  all  our 
people  are  equally  concerned,  which  tend  to  make  us  realize  our  solidarity  and  to 
appreciate  our  united  responsibilities  toward   the  sister  nations  of  the  world. 

However,  above  all  other  ties  upon  which  we  must  rely  as  securing  the 
unity  of  our  national  life  is  our  trust  in  God  and  our  loyalty  to  the  leadership 
of  His  Son. 

Lincoln,  with  sad  face  and  burdened  heart,  with  charity  towards  all  and  with 
malice  towards  none,  longing  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  nation,  is  pictured 
seated  alone  in  the  pastor's  study  adjoining  the  room  in  the  church  where  people 
had  met  for  prayer;  for  he  wished  to  hear  their  petitions,  as  his  hopes  for  the 
future  of  the   nation    were   fixed   upon   God. 

So.  too,  Washington  firmly  believed  that  national  prosperity  would  be  con- 
ditioned upon  a  morality  which  was  founded  upon  religion,  and  in  his  Farewell 
Adress  he  spoke  words  which  are  of  deep  significance  to  those  of  us  who  believe 
that  the  strongest  tie  which  can  unite  a  people  is  that  of  an  abiding  faith  in  God. 
"Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity,  religion 
and  morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the 
tribute  of  patriotism  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human 
happiness — these    firmest    props    of    the    duties    of    men    and    citizens.       The    mere 

XIV 


politician,  equally  with  the  pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  them.  A 
volume  could  not  trace  all  their  connections  with  private  and  public  felicity.  Let 
it  simply  be  asked,  Where  is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life, 
if  the  sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths  which  are  the  instruments  of 
investigation  in  courts  of  justice?  And  let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposi- 
tion that  morality  can  be  maintained   without   religion." 

There  are  in  our  country  sinister  forces  threatening  to  undermine  our  national 
institutions.  Among  these  none  are  more  deadly  or  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the 
indifference  to  religion  which  exists  in  some  circles,  and  the  actual  hostility  to 
Christianity  which  is  manifested  in  others. 

As  we  look  to  the  future,  nothing  will  do  more  to  heal  the  wounds  of  past 
conflict  or  to  remove  the  bitterness  of  present  misunderstanding  and  prejudice 
than  an  earnest  and  united  effort  to  bring  the  youth  of  our  nation,  and  indeed 
all  the  citizens  of  our  several  States,  into  conscious  and  determined  loyalty  to 
Christ.  We  who  believe  that  the  union  is  to  be  firm  and  abiding  must  strive 
to  maintain  for  it  the  basis  of  a  brotherhood  which  itself  is  founded  upon  deep 
religious  convictions. 

"America,   America; 
God  shed  His  grace  on  thee, 
And  crown   thy  good  with  brotherhood, 
From  sea   to  shining  sea." 


XV 


BIRTHPLACE     OF     ABRAHAM     LINCOLN 

At  the  Old  Lincoln  Farm,  near  Hodgenville.  — (Copyright 
Photograph  by  Cau  field  and  Shook,  Louisville,  and  used 
by    special    permission.) 


XVI 


In    American    History 

WITH  A  TRIBUTE  TO  "HISTORIC  OLD  HANOVER" 

BY    ALBERT   EDWARD   WIGGAM 

XT*X  ROFESSOR  FREDERICK  J.  TURNER,  of  Harvard  University,  in 
M  his  notable  book,  "The  Frontier  in  American  History,"  pays  eloquent 
r*  tribute    to     'Middle    Western    Pioneer    Democracy"    as    a    most    vital 

factor  in  the  formation  of  our  free  institutions.  He  says  it  was 
an  impressive  sight  to  witness  the  pioneers  assembling  in  their  community  to 
raise  the  log  cabin  of  a  neighbor  and  sanctify  it  by  the  name  of  home,  the  dwell- 
ing place  of  pioneer  ideals.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  every  worthy  memorial  of 
that  historical  time  symbolizes  the  fact  that  the  past  and  future  of  our  people 
are  knitted  together  eternally;  that  the  sacred  records  of  that  heroic  period  "are 
not  unmeaning  and  antiquarian,  but  even  in  their  details  are  worthy  of  preser- 
vation for  their  revelation  of  the  beginners  of  society  in  the  midst  of  a  nation 
caught  by  the  vision  of  a  better  future  for  the  world." 

Though  the  Ohio  Valley  felt  its  close  relation  to  the  Old  South,  says 
Professor  Turner,  its  people  did  not  champion  chattel  slavery.  The  presence  of 
indenture  servitude  in  the  south  sections  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  in  pioneer 
times  accustomed  the  masses  to  look  with  toleration  upon  Negro  bondage;  and 
the  spirit  of  compromise  and  adjustment  between  the  two  extremes  of  North 
and  South  over  slavery  prevailed  deeply  in  the  popular  mind  of  this  section  of 
the  country: 

"Kentucky  furnished  Abraham  Lincoln  to  Illinois,  and  Jefferson  Davis  to 
Mississippi,  and  was  in  reality  the  very  center  of  the  region  of  adjustment  between 
these  rival  interests.  .  .  .  The  Ohio  Valley  was  a  Middle  Region,  with  strong 
rational  allegiance  striving  to  hold  apart  with  either  hand  the  sectional  combatants 
in  the  struggle.  In  the  cautious  development  of  his  policy  of  emancipation  we 
may  see  the  profound  influence  of  the  Ohio  Valley  upon  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Kentucky's  greatest  son.  No  one  can  understand  his  presidency  without  proper 
appreciation  of  the  deep  influence  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  its  ideals  and  its  prejudices, 
upon   America's   original   contribution   to   the   great   men   of   the   world." 

Professor  Turner  insists  that  the  religious  freedom  of  the  Old  West  and  of 
the  frontier  stamped  itself  upon  the  constitutions  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania: 
that  a  free  church  and  a  secular  state  were  one  of  America's  supreme  gifts  to 
modern  civilization;  and  that  we  must  own  our  lasting  indebtedness  to  the 
Presbyterian,  Baptist  and  Methodist  pioneers  for  this  eternal  vigilence  and  vision, 
despite   their   rigid   sectarianism   and   emotional   character: 

"Whether  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian,  Baptist  or  Methodist,  these  people 
saturated  their  religion  and  politics  with  feeling.  Both  the  stump  and  the  pulpit 
were  centers  of  energy,  electric  cells  capable  of  starting  wide-spreading  fires.  They 
felt  both   their  religion   and   their  democracy,   and   were   ready   to   fight   for   it." 

But  Professor  Turner  is  peculiarly  impressive  when  he  pays  tribute  to  the 
determining   influence   of   the    Middle   Western    Pioneer   Democracy    in    shaping   our 


XV 


educational  ideals.  He  cites  the  Indiana  Constitution  of  1816,  which  contained 
a  provision  for  "a  general  system  of  education,  ascending  in  regular  gradations 
from  township  schools  to  a  State  University,  wherein  tuition  shall  be  gratis  and 
equally  open  to  all."  He  says  this  was  a  pioneer  conception  and  was  deeply 
saturated  with  the  similar  ideal  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  put  forth  his  famous 
outline  of  popular  education  when  he  founded  the  University  of  Virginia.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  Prof.  Turner  addresses  himself  to  the  sublime  fruition  of  this 
ideal   today: 

"Nothing  in  our  educational  history  is  more  striking  than  the  steady  pressure 
of  democracy  upon  the  universities  to  adapt  them  to  the  requirements  of  all  the 
people.  From  the  State  Universities  of  the  Middle  West,  shaped  under  pioneer 
ideals,  have  come  the  fuller  recognition  of  scientific  studies,  and  especially  those 
of  applied  science  devoted  to  the  conquest  of  nature;  the  breaking  down  of  the 
traditional  required  curriculum;  the  union  of  vocational  and  college  work  in  the 
same  institution;  the  development  of  agricultural  and  engineering  colleges  and 
business  courses;  the  training  of  lawyers,  administrators,  public  men  and  journal- 
ists— all  under  the  ideal  of  service  to  democracy  rather  than  of  individual  advance- 
ment alone.  Other  universities  do  the  same  thing;  but  the  head  springs  of  the 
main  current  of  this  great  stream  of  tendency  came  from  the  land  of  the  pioneers, 
the  democratic  states  of  the  Middle  West." 

Professor  Turner  makes  soulful  appeal  to  these  great  State  Universities  of 
our  Middle  Western  country  to  send  forth  a  trained  and  intelligent  leadership  in 
the  social  crisis  that  now  confronts  us — men  with  a  Lincoln-like  outlook  and 
a  spirit  of  fair  play  and  patience  that  will  avail  us  in  the  clash  of  classes  and  the 
mad  rush  for  material  gain: 

"By  sending  out  these  open-minded  experts,  by  furnishing  well-fitted  legis- 
lators, public  leaders  and  teachers,  by  graduating  successive  armies  of  enlightened 
citizens  accustomed  to  deal  dispassionately  with  the  problems  of  modern  life,  able 
to  think  for  themselves,  governed  not  by  ignorance,  by  prejudice  or  by  impulse, 
but  by  knowledge  and  reason  and  high-mindedness,  the  State  Universities  will 
safeguard   democracy." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  world  that  this  sadly  missing  type  of  leader- 
ship in  social  progress  will  be  forthcoming  in  the  crucial  hour,  and  that  much  of 
it  will  come  from  the  halls  of  our  state  universities,  as  Professor  Turner  pleads 
and  anticipates.  But  the  purpose  of  the  present  volume  is  to  point  out  another 
historic  and  heroic  source  of  leadership  that  has  never  failed  us  in  the  moment  of 
destiny.  We  refer  to  the  "Log  Colleges"  of  long  ago,  the  "Schools  of  the 
Prophets"  in  our  Western  country,  like  Hanover  down  on  the  Ohio,  and  Old 
Centre  in  Kentucky,  which  have  made  a  special  and  imperishable  contribution  to 
the  intellectual  and  spiritual  leadership  of  American  Democracy  in  her  hours  of 
travail   and   rebirth. 

We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  a  centennial  time  of  most  holy  memories.  The 
hundred-year  history  of  the  Old  Salem  and  Madison  Presbyteries  and  of  the 
Synod  of  Indiana  is  at  hand;  and  we  have  asked  a  foremost  man  of  science,  a 
faithful  and  devoted  son  of  Old  Hanover,  to  pay  tribute  to  her  peculiar  worth 
and  work.  In  his  summer  sojourns  at  the  lovely  little  hamlet  of  Vernon  we 
talked  over  in  a  most  intimate  and  illuminating  way  the  material  of  the  present 
volume;  and  Mr.  Wiggam  generously  offered  to  write  an  introductory  word  on 
the    Lincoln   Forerunners.      But    we    asked    him    for   a    more   precious    and    personal 

XVIII 


word — his    own    reaction    to    the    intellectual    and    spiritual    atmosphere    of    his    old 
alma   mater.      He  has   given   it   in   golden   utterance: 

HISTORIC    OLD   HANOVER 

I  suppose  it  is  natural  for  a  man  to  feel  that  his  own  college  exerted  a 
peculiar  and  unique  influence  upon  its  students;  but  it  does  seem  to  me,  after 
all  these  years,  that  this  was  more  true  of  Hanover  than  any  of  the  Indiana 
colleges  of  that  time.  I  think  without  doubt  that  we  had  the  best  course  of 
Liberal  Arts  at  that  time  in  the  State. 

It  is  not  the  curriculum,  however,  but  the  teachers  that  make  a  college. 
And  Hanover  at  that  time  had  an  able  and  devoted  group  of  teachers.  By 
common  consent.  Doctor  Fisher,  the  President,  stood  head  and  shoulders  over 
everyone  else,  I  still  believe  he  was  the  greatest  teacher  of  men  I  have  ever  known, 
and  that  he  was  one  of  the  truly  great  historic  teachers  of  that  day.  He  deserves 
a  place  with  Mark  Hopkins  and  Horace  Mann. 

A  good  teacher  can  be  made,  but  a  great  teacher  has  to  be  born.  A  good 
teacher,  like  an  ordinary  man  in  any  profession,  is  simply  a  man  of  good  parts 
who  has  been  well  trained.  He  is  a  common  man  endowed  with  common 
capacities.  But  a  great  teacher  is  a  common  man  endowed  with  genius.  And 
Doctor   Fisher   was   such   a    man. 

The  moral  influence  of  the  other  professors  was  also  very  great.  They 
were  all  men  of  the  old,  sturdy,  uncompromising  morals,  and  men  who  lived 
lofty  personal  lives.  We  regarded  them  in  the  light  of  saints.  Indeed,  we  used 
seriously  to  debate  whether  Professor  Garrett  had  ever  committed  a  sin.  I  still 
have  doubts  if  he  ever  did.  He  looked  like  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  and 
lived  like  one.  And  he  was  regarded  at  that  time  as  among  the  half  dozen 
ablest  Greek  scholars  in  America. 

Professors  Morse  and  Young  and  Baird  were  also  men  of  high  teaching 
ability  md  thorough  scholarship.  Professor  Young's  enthusiasm  for  science 
carried  his  students  constantly  with  him.  Professor  Baird  gave  me  my  first 
inspiration  towards  literature.  He  was  a  great  literary  scholar  and  teacher.  Later 
he  married   me  and   my   wife   and   we   revere   his   memory. 

The  College  sent  out  many  preachers  in  that  day,  as  the  whole  tone  of  the 
institution  was  religious,  although  not  denominational.  A  number  of  missionaries 
were  sent  to  foreign  lands,  some  of  whom  exerted  great  influence  upon  national 
destinies.  Particularly  I  recall  just  now  Sam  Moffatt  and  Will  Baird,  who  were 
the  chief  men  in  the  whole  political  life  of  Korea  for  many  years,  and  were 
powers  with  the  whole  country,  and  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  conflicts 
with  Japan.  Professor  Garrett's  son,  Joseph  Garrett,  also  became  influential 
in  China,  and  I  understand  is  now  regarded  internationally  as  the  greatest  living 
authority  on  Chinese  literature  and  history. 

It  is  inspiring  to  think  of  a  little  college  with  scarcely  150  students,  and 
with  only  seven  or  eight  professors,  and  only  a  small  endowment,  hardly  enough 
now  to  equip  one  university  department,  exerting  such  an  influence  upon  the 
world.  But  it  came  from  the  lofty  character  and  devotion  of  this  small  group 
of  men  who  made  the  faculty. 

For  it  always  has  been,  and  always  will  be,  that  it  is  not  laboratories,  nor 
big  endowments,  nor  extensive  libraries,  nor  athletic  records,  nor  vast  buildings, 
but  the  quality  and  character  of  the  men  who  live  with  and  teach  the  students, 
and  who  inspire  them  by  their  personal  lives,  which  makes  a  college.  And  in 
this  respect,  the  Hanover  of  my  day  was  as  good  a  place  as  existed  in  America 
for  a  boy   to   get   the   kind   of   education    this   country   needs. 

XIX 


fptp  lift  #Jps»  JWI^n  warn  ^tltltb 


f^^^^™"^  HE  Ohio  Valley  was  wrested  from  the  Indians  and  settled  by  working 

■     I  "^  people  from  the   coast-line  colonies  and   Europe.      Thomas   Jefferson 

y,  I  J  once    said    that    laborers,    not    lawyers,    were    the    fundamental    makers 

of    America,    for    industry    necessarily    underlies    the    state.       Or,    as    a 

witty  Irishman  expressed  it,   "Folks  may  do  without  guv'mint  but  nivver  without 

grub!" 

Even  Washington  was  a  working  boy  in  Old  Virginia  before  he  became 
a  surveyor-soldier  and  foresaw  the  future  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  Of  the  stream 
itself  Jefferson  said:  "The  Ohio  is  the  most  beautiful  river  on  earth;  its  current 
gentle,  waters  clear,  and  bosom  smooth  and  unbroken  and  rapid."  "A  single 
instance"  was  the  falls  at  Louisville,  which  was  such  a  terror  to  the  wives  and 
little  ones  of  the  early  emigrants  on  their  way  from  the  South  to  the  Northwest 
Territory  that  they  crossed  at  Utica,  Indiana,  a  river  village  ten  miles  above. 
The  ferry  at  this  point  was  very  important  and  profitable  from  1800  to  1825 
when  so  many  thousands  of  people  without  property  in  the  South  swarmed 
upward  into  the  newly  opened  prairie  lands.  From  Old  and  New  England. 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  came  other  thousands  in  the  white  covered  wagons 
of  pioneer  times,  braving  death  by  Indians,  disease  and  destitution,  to  cultivate 
and  civilize  our  beautiful  Western  country.  Multitudes  came  down  the  Ohio 
in  flatboats,  landing  all  the  way  between  Cincinnati  and  Louisville. 

Now,  what  were  the  causes  that  drew  or  drove  our  early  ancestors  to  the 
New  World  and  the  West?  Some  say  the  search  for  religious  liberty;  others 
political  emancipation.  But  Emerson,  our  greatest  idealist,  gave  a  third,  funda- 
mental reason,  when  he  said  in  "English  Traits"  that  every  revolution  in  our 
history  involves  a  yeoman's  right  to  his  dinner!  The  movements  of  humanity, 
like  the  migration  of  animals  and  birds,  are  a  search  for  food  and  shelter, 
the  struggle  for  existence,  which  is  primary  with  most  of  us.  Our  fathers 
did  love  and  die  for  religious  and  political  liberty,  and  there  was  no  mere  spread- 
eagleism  about  their  solemn  belief  that  in  coming  to  America  they  were,  like  the 
ancient  Hebrews,   escaping  from   "The  House  of  Bondage"   in   the  old   world. 

There  was  yet  living  at  Henryville,  Indiana,  1908-9,  a  grand  old  pioneer, 
Uncle  Tom  Freeman.  He  was  born  the  day  Indiana  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 
He  came  of  the  sturdiest  English  stock,  and  his  very  name  was  significant  of  the 
original  English  yeoman.  No  braver,  better  men  ever  lived  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  the  story  of  their  exile  and  extinction  is  a  sadder  one  than  Goldsmith's 
"Deserted  Village"   or  Longfellow's   "Evangeline." 

At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century 
the  common  people  of  England  were  mainly  free  peasants  who  owned  their  little 
farms,  or  independent  wage  earners  who  owned  cottage  homes  with  several  acres 
attached.  These  men  worked  for  the  landlords,  but  there  was  still  the  open 
common  where  the  cow,  horse  and  pigs  might  feed,  and  the  free  forest  for 
firewood.  The  old  feudal  lord's  reliance  for  work  or  warfare  was  these  sturdy 
free-holders,   who  claimed  the  same   right   to  the  soil  he  did. 

XX 


In  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century 
Feudalism  came  to  an  end  in  England,  and  the  modern  commercial  age  began. 
The  old  feudal  barons  had  been  rendered  bankrupt  by  war,  and  a  new  generation 
of  money  makers  found  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods  immensely  profitable. 
The  old  handicraft  conditions  of  industry  were  done  away  at  a  stroke.  The 
feudal  lords  dispossessed  the  free  peasant  proprietors  and  the  independent  wage 
earners  of  their  little  homesteads,  and  there  was  no  choice  left  them  but  work  in 
the  mines,  mills  and  factories  or  emigration  to  America.  Hence  the  significance 
of  Jefferson's  remark  that  laborers  and  not  lawyers  were  the  real  makers  of 
America.  "The  small  landholders  are  the  most  precious  part  of  a  state,"  said  he, 
and  he  always  defended  their  good  name. 

Sheep  raising  supplanted  agriculture,  and  that  was  why  the  yeomanry  were 
dispossessed  by  the  landlords  and  manufacturers.  The  average  yearly  income  of 
the  peasant-farmer  and  independent  cottager  had  formerly  been  from  $300  to 
$400  even  in  that  primitive  time;  and  the  wealth  of  cities  and  towns  was  dis- 
tributed and  shared  amongst  the  masses  as  never  before  or  since.  But  when 
industrial  machinery  supplanted  individual  handicraft  a  national  tragedy  was 
enacted.  Up  in  Scotland  alone  there  were  200,000  beggars,  and  a  writer  of  the 
time  declared  that  with  the  dispossession  of  the  peasantry  and  the  spoliation  of 
the  villagers,  manufacture  and  commerce  were  the  parents  of  the  national  poor. 
As  Henry  George  said,  there  was  poverty  along  with  progress.  In  the  forty-third 
year  of  Queen  Elizabeth  the  national  poor  rate  was  established,  and  the  authors 
of  the  measure  seemed  so  ashamed  of  it  that  the  bill  contained  no  preamble 
whatever.      The  English  yeomanry  speedily  disappeared. 

Thus  originated  the  indentured  servants  who  formed  so  large  a  portion  of 
the  emigrants  to  America.  They  were  really  white  slaves  driven  in  chain-gangs 
through  the  colonies  by  "soul  drivers"  and  sold  to  Northern  farmers  and  Southern 
planters  even  before  the  arrival  of  the  black  man.  Long  afterward  when  the 
Duchess  of  Sutherland  gave  cordial  welcome  in  London  society  to  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  for  showing  the  horrors  of  American  Negro  slavery  in  "Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,"  a  noted  humanitarian  abroad  wrote  an  article  for  the  New  York 
Tribune  stating  facts  about  the  dependent  peasantry  upon  the  estates  of  the 
Dutchess,  in  comparison  to  which  black  slavery  was  white.  The  article  created 
an   immense   sensation. 

The  distressing  conditions  existing  in  all  the  coast  states  before  and  after 
the  American  Revolution  drove  numberless  emigrants  to  the  Ohio  Valley.  Edward 
Eugleston's  novels  are  the  social  chronicle  of  these  early  days  and  deeds. 
Eggleston's  father  was  a  Virginia  planter's  son,  a  graduate  of  William  and  Mary 
College  at  seventeen,  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class  and  alma  mater.  He 
"was  bred  a  planter's  son,  and,  of  course,  a  white-handed  stranger  to  all  manual 
labor,"  says  Eggleston,  "but  he  sent  his  sons  to  the  country  every  year  to  farm." 
And  Edward's  social  sympathies  for  the  Negro  slaves  and  indentured  servants 
dated  far  back  in  his  boyhood.  He  was  an  Abolitionist  and  a  Humanitarian,  and 
while  he  pictured  primitive  social  types  with  such  humor,  he  made  Hannah 
Thompson,  the  bound  girl  at  old  man  Means,  his  heroine  in  "The  Hoosier 
School    Master." 

The  Thompson  family,  no  doubt  real  people,  were  left  destitute  bv  the 
death  of  the  father,  an  English  emigrant  to  the  Ohio  Valley.  Thus  situated. 
Hannah  was  bound  out  and  the  mother,  nearly  blind,   was  sent  to  the  poor  house. 

XXI 


a  frightful  institution  in  those  days.  Eggleston  satirizes  it  with  the  power  of 
Charles  Dickens,  who  came  to  the  Ohio  Valley  when  Eggleston  was  a  child, 
looking  after  the  rights  of  English  emigrants  who  had  been  robbed  by  bogus 
land   companies. 

Hannah  was  "  the  quiet  drudge"  who  "milked  the  cows  in  the  open  lot 
in  the  worst  storms  for  three  years."  And  nothing  is  finer  than  the  discovery 
of  her  crushed  womanhood  by  the  young  school  master  opposing  her  at  the 
spelling  match:  "As  he  saw  the  fine,  timid  face  of  the  girl  so  long  oppressed, 
flush  and  shine  with  interest:  as  he  looked  at  the  rather  low  but  broad  and 
intelligent  brow,  and  the  fresh,  white  complexion,  and  saw  the  rich  womanly 
nature  coming  to  the  surface  under  the  influence  of  applause  and  sympathy,  he 
did  not  want  to  beat." 

Bill  Jones  was  superintendent  of  the  poor  house,  wnile  Pete  Jones  was 
county  commissioner  for  the  "charitable  institution"  in  which  Hannah's  mother 
was  incarcerated.  The  school  master  discovers  her:  "And  by  the  window  in  the 
same  room,  feeling  the  light  that  struggled  through  the  austy  glass  upon  her 
face,  sat  a  sorrowful,  intelligent  English  woman.  Ralph  noticed  at  once  that 
she  was  English,  and  in  a  few  moments  discovered  that  her  sight  was  defective." 
He  inquired  her  name,  and  then  "could  not  but  remark  the  contrast  between  the 
thorough  refinement  of  her  manner  and  her  coarse,  scant,  misshapen  pauper 
frock  of  blue  drilling.  He  did  not  know,  for  he  had  not  read  the  report  of  the 
boards  of  state  charities,  that  nearly  all  almshouses  are  very  much  like  this,  and 
that  the  state  of  New  York  is  not  better  in  this  regard  than  Indiana.  And 
he  did  not  know  that  it  is  true  in  almost  all  other  counties,  as  it  was  in  his 
own,  that  Christian  people  do  not  think  enough  of  Christ  to  look  for  Him  in 
these  lazar-houses!" 

The  kindhearted  Methodists  take  up  a  collection  for  the  blind  widow,  and 
the  old  soldier  of  1812;  a  Kentuckian,  by  the  way,  adopts  little  "Shocky."  the 
poet-child  who  thought  God  had  forgot!  At  the  trial,  when  Ralph  is  cleared 
and  Hannah  set  free,  Squire  Underwood  says  to  her:  "This  court  feels  in  duty 
bound  to  inform  you  that  according  to  the  laws  of  Indiana  a  woman  is  of  age 
at  eighteen,  and  as  no  indenture  could  be  made  binding  after  you  had  reached 
your  majority,  you  are  the  victim  of  a  deception.  You  are  free,  and  if  it  can 
be  proven  that  you  have  been  defrauded  by  a  wilful  deception,  a  suit  for  damages 
will   lie." 

The  poor  girl  walked  ten  miles  by  night  to  reach  her  mother,  "knocked 
and  was  admitted,  and  fell  down  faint  and  weary  at  her  blind  mother's  feet,  and 
laid  her  tired  head  in  her  mother's  lap  and  wept  like  a  child,  and  said.  O  mother, 
I'm  free!  I'm  free!'  While  the  mother's  tears  baptized  her  face  and  the  mother's 
trembling  fingers  combed  out  her  tresses,  and  Shocky  stood  by  and  cried,  'I 
knowed  God  wouldn't   fergit   you,    Hanner!'  " 

Uncle  Tom  Freeman  at  Henryville  knew  the  Egglcstons  quite  well  when 
they  lived  in  Vevay.  He  built  the  house  where  Edward  was  born,  and  a  little 
cousin  of  his,  Roxy  by  name,  lived  with  the  Egglcstons  and  doubtless  suggested 
the  heroine  of  the  noted  novel  with  that  title.  Eggleston  believed  that  his  stories 
would   always   be   valued    as   social    history. 


XXII 


JOHN  FINLEY  CROWE 


CHAPTER   I 


f\X\  Y  GOOD  FRIEND,  Mr.  Young  E.  Allison,   to  whom  I  went  in  quest 

II  of  a  characterizing  and  binding  title  for  these  centennial  chronicles 
J  1/  of  the  great  Emancipation  movement,  and  the  great  human  Liber- 
ators of  the  Old  Louisville  Presbytery,  answered  that  any  catchy, 
striking  title  to  a  book  or  a  sermon  has  "a  certain  amount  of  charlatanry  in  it." 
He  said  that  I  should  so  arrange  my  material  and  tell  my  story  that  it  would 
move  naturally  and  convincingly  from  the  old  home  church  and  community  of 
my  childhood  and  youth,  where  these  great  scenes  and  characters  first  dawned 
upon  me  in  local  tradition — across  the  river  into  Southern  Indiana,  where  the 
history  climaxes  and  where  my  own  ministry  of  the  past  twenty  years  has  enabled 
me  to  gather  and  chonicle  from  local  tradition  first  hand  the  memorable  atmo- 
sphere and  personages  that  preceded  and  prepared  the  way  for  Abraham  Lincoln 
himself  in  due  time.  I  may  remark  in  passing  that  the  noted  English  musician, 
Francis  Grierson,  whose  parents  emigrated  to  Illinois  in  March,  1849,  the  year 
after  his  birth,  witnessed  and  experienced  this  same  mystic  and  powerful  revolution 
in  the  souls  of  men  and  the  society  around  them.  The  young  man  recorded  his 
impressions  fifty  years  afterward  in  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  Lincoln  books, 
"The  Valley  of  Shadows--Recollections  of  the  Lincoln  Country,    1858-1863." 

I  must  next  say  that  while  I  have  long  desired  to  publish  the  chronicles 
I  have  assembled,  it  was  the  centennial  jubilee  of  the  Old  Goshen  Church  of  my 
childhood  near  Louisville,  and  of  my  present  pastorate  at  Old  Vernon,  Indiana, 
above  Madison,  that  made  the  book  timely — but  above  all,  the  serene  and 
triumphant  old  age  of  my  father,  and  Rev.  J.  R.  Barnard  (father  of  the  Lincoln 
Sculptor)  both  spiritual  veterans  of  the  Lincoln  period,  one  in  the  South  and 
the  other  in  the  North.  They  were  the  yet  living  heroes  of  these  pages  whose 
careers  nobly  revive  and  revision  the  other  great  legendary  figures  of  enlighten- 
ment and  Liberty.  The  story  of  my  father's  ministry  is  to  me  the  more  impres- 
sive because  the  little  Labor  Chapel  he  built  and  pastored  from  1895  to  1915 
represented  and  expressed  the  latest  and  greatest  of  all  the  social  and  spiritual 
crises  of  American  history.  This  little  chapel  and  its  pulpit  were  my  own  the- 
ological seminary,  under  my  father,  and  from  it  I  went  forth  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  those  who  labor  and  are  heavy  laden.  From  that  little  pulpit  Lincoln 
himself  would  have  gladly  spoken  had  he  been  alive  in  our  own  time  and  com- 
munity. All  this  history  would  be  mouldy  and  dead  to  me  without  this  mem- 
orable ministry  of  my  father  to  the  humble  and  lowly  of  our  own  day  and 
generation.  The  story  of  my  mother's  vision  and  life  of  service  was  interwoven 
here  also  in  the  back  ground  of  an  Old  Kentucky  Home.  Mr.  Allison  (without 
having  seen  the  general  story  at  all)  agreed  at  once  that  the  mental  and  tem- 
peramental as  well  as  spiritual  attitude  of  Lincoln  as  an  Emancipationist  rather 
than  an  Abolitionist  had  its  origin  deep  down  and  far  back  in  these  Old  Ken- 
tucky  Home   memories. 


4  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

FORERUNNERS  AND  RESTORERS 

Every  great  age  has  its  Forerunners  and  Restorers.  Hence,  let  us  try  to  under- 
stand and  appreciate  the  significance  of  these  terms  as  applied  to  certain  great 
Preachers  of  Righteousness  of  the  Presbyterian  Faith  around  us  here  during  the 
Civil   War   when   our   nation   was   in   travail   with    "The  New   Birth   of   Freedom." 

The  Forerunner  was  a  precursor  and  herald  of  Salvation  and  Deliverance 
in  ancient  Israel.  He  was  an  evangel  of  comfort  and  consolation  to  the  sinful 
and  sorrowing.  "Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  saith  your  God."  He  was 
to  tell  Jerusalem  that  her  warfare  was  accomplished,  her  iniquity  pardoned,  and 
that  she  should  receive  at  the  hands  of  the  Lord  double  for  all  her  sins,  when 
her  heart  was  contrite  with  true  repentance.  The  Forerunner  was  the  herald  of 
equality  and  freedom  also;  but  he  was  not  a  man  or  messenger  of  violence. 
"He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd;  he  shall  gather  the  lambs  in  his  arms, 
and  carry  them  in  his  bosom."  At  times  stern  and  unrelenting  as  Truth  itself, 
yet    always    forbearing    and    forgiving    as    Love   Divine. 

The  Restorer  in  ancient  Israel  had  almost  a  similar  mission.  Isaiah,  the  same 
great  prophet,  describes  the  conditions  necessary  to  the  Great  Restoration:  "To 
loose  the  bonds  of  wickedness:  to  undo  the  bands  of  the  yoke;  and  to  let  the 
oppressed  go  free;   and  that  ye  break  every  yoke. 

Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the  hungry;  and  that  thou  bring  the  poof 
that  are  cast  out  to  thy  house?  When  thou  seest  the  naked,  that  thou  cover  him? 
And  that  thou  hide  not  thyself  from  thine  own  flesh?  Then  shall  thy  light 
break  forth  as  the  morning;  and  thy  healing  shall  spring  forth  speedily;  and  thy 
righteousness  shall  go  before  thee;   the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  reward. 

"Then  shalt  thou  call  and  the  Lord  shall  answer;  thou  shalt  cry,  and  he 
shall  say,  Here  am  I.  If  thou  take  away  from  the  midst  of  thee,  the  yoke  (of 
oppression) ,  the  putting  forth  of  the  finger  (of  scorn  or  contempt  toward  the 
humble  and  lowly) ,  and  speaking  wickedly  (with  strife  and  contention)  :  and 
if  thou  draw  out  thy  soul  to  the  hungry,  and  satisfy  the  afflicted  soul;  then 
shall  thy  light  rise  in  darkness,   and   thine  obscurity   be  as   the   noonday. 

"And  the  Lord  shall  guide  thee  continually,  and  satisfy  thy  soul  in  dry 
places,  and  make  strong  thy  bones;  and  thou  shalt  be  like  a  watered  garden, 
and  like  a   spring   of   water,    whose   waters   fail   not. 

"And  they  that  shall  be  of  thee  shall  build  the  old  waste  places;  thou 
shalt  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  generations;  and  thou  shalt  be  called.  The 
Repairer  of  the  Breach,   The  Restorer  of  paths  to  dwell   in." 

It  was  this  Old  Testament  type  of  ethics  that  so  deeply  impressed  mc  in 
the  faith  and  life  of  my  father,  from  my  youth  up,  and  finally  drew  me  with 
an  irresistible  passion  and  purpose  to  preach  the  same  great  gospel  of  Regener- 
ation and  Deliverance  in  Christ  Jesus.  As  a  child  I  took  notice  that  my  father 
was  different  from  other  men  and  ministers.  He  seemed  aloof  and  alone,  like 
an  old  Hebrew  patriarch  and  prophet.  His  stern  solemnity  subdued  and  overawed 
me:  and  it  was  years  and  years  before  I  realized  how  kind  and  tender  and  just 
he  meant  to  be.  At  sixty  years  of  age  he  came  into  the  same  great  comprehension 
and  experience  of  the  Gospel  applied  anew  to  the  social  problems  of  our  time 
that  I  myself  had  so  fully  and  joyfully  found.  Human  words  cannot  tell  how 
sweet  and  reconciling  and  forever  unifying  this  new  birth  was  to  both  of  us. 
We  had  come  into  it    (or  it  had   come  into   us)    after  suffering   and   struggle   and 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN  5 

sorrow  such  as  I  never  wish  to  witness  again:  but  it  was  the  same  baptism 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  spoken  of  again  by  Isaiah  when  he  said  that  he  was 
anointed: 

"To  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek  (or  poor)  :  to  bind  up  the  broken 
hearted:  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives:  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them 
that  are  bound:  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and  the  day  of 
vengeance  of  our  God:  to  comfort  all  that  mourn:  to  appoint  unto  them  that 
mourn,  to  give  unto  them  a  garland  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the 
garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.  And  they  shall  build  the  old  waste 
places:  they  shall  raise  up  the  formers  desolations;  and  they  shall  repair  the 
waste   cities,    the   desolation   of   many    generations." 

Just  a  little  investigation  convinced  me  that  this  faith  and  gospel  which 
my  father  believed  in  and  lived  with  such  deep  and  undeviating  devotion  was 
the  very  same  faith  and  gospel  that  moved  and  commanded  the  souls  and  lives 
of  the  great  Forerunners  and  Restorers  of  the  Calvinistic  type  before  and  after 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  our  national  history.  Lincoln  himself,  as  his  latest  bio- 
grapher, William  E.  Barton,  so  convincingly  shows,  was  profoundly  impressed 
by  a  personal  friendship  with  the  Rev.  James  Smith  (formerly  of  the  old  Louis- 
ville Presbytery)  who  became  Lincoln's  pastor  in  Springfield,  111.,  when  Lincoln's 
little  boy  Eddie,  died.  He  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  found  solace  and  comfort  such  as 
they  had  never  found  before,  and  Dr.  Smith  brought  unto  Lincoln  a  new 
experience  of  spiritual  trust  and  dependence  on  God.  Lincoln's  faith,  from  that 
time  was  characterized  by  the  elements  of  a  noble  self-renunciation.  For  Lincoln, 
great  as  he  was  in  soul,  (as  Dr.  Barton  so  powerfully  shows)  drew  upon  the 
same  sources  of  Divine  Assistance  and  Consolation  in  those  supreme  periods 
of  national  trial  and  testing  when  only  prayer  was  left  him.  It  was  then  that 
"angels  came  and  ministered  unto  him."  And  we  are  realizing  today  that  our 
times  and  tasks  demand  an  equally  "full  measure  of  devotion"  to  make  them 
fruitful   for  those  coming  after   us. 


CHAPTER    II 


i}  ^vomamttt  auh  JiWial  'Jhtx-a 


g      ^y      ND  now   let   me   record  my  undying  debt   to   Edward  Eggleston,    who, 
\/  ^X         next  to   my  father,   awakened  me   to   the   mission   and  purpose  of   the 
g^     J^       great  Forerunners  and  Restorers. 

In  the  pioneer  times  there  was  a  Kentucky  farmer  by  the 
name  of  George  Craig,  who  gave  his  slaves  their  freedom,  sold  his  farm,  and 
moved  across  the  Ohio  River  into  Southern  Indiana  above  Madison.  He  was 
a  man  of  unusual  intelligence  and  culture  for  those  days  and  built  his  new  house 
of  stone  while  everybody  around  him  used  logs.  He  set  out  a  fine  young  or- 
chard of  fruit  trees  and  made  every  possible  improvement  upon  his  new  land. 
He  was  a  model  farmer  and  became  the  most  widely  known  man  in  that  section 
of   country. 

But  best  of  all,  he  was  a  believer  in  boys  and  girls.  He  had  an  old  fashioned 
family  of  children  and  was  their  constant  chum  and  leader.  He  took  a  deep  inter- 
est in  their  education,  and  if  there  was  a  poor  boy  or  girl  of  promise  in  the 
neighborhood,  he  adopted  them  into  his  house  and  gave  them  the  same  chance 
as  his  own  children  had.  There  was  plenty  to  eat  and  wear  in  those  good  old 
Hoosier  days,  and  the  boys  and  girls  repaid  his  kindness  by  doing  their  part  on 
the   farm   and   about   the   house. 

Mr.  Craig's  home  stood  on  the  Ohio  amid  scenery  of  wonderful  beauty, 
and  his  boys  and  girls  were  aglow  with  health.  One  night  a  young  lawyer  from 
the  little  town  of  Vevay,  five  or  six  mile  above,  came  down  to  transact  some 
business  with  Mr.  Craig.  While  they  were  talking,  one  of  Mr.  Craig's  daughters, 
a  lovely  young  girl  of  eighteen  years,  entered  the  room  to  light  a  candle. 

It  chanced  that  the  subject  of  conversation  was  particularly  interesting, 
and  she  paused  to  hear  what  was  said.  So  struck  was  she  by  the  young  lawyer's 
culture  and  charm  of  manner  that  she  unconsciously  lighted  the  wrong  end  of 
the  candle.  He  was  amused,  but  also  surprised  and  delighted  to  notice  her  interest 
in    their    conversation,    and    addressed    a    few    remarks    to    her    directly. 

She  replied  with  such  intelligence  and  appreciation  that  his  heart  was  stirred 
within  him,  and  he  was  not  long  returning  to  renew  the  association.  A  romance 
resulted,  and  in  due  season  there  was  an  old  time  wedding  at  the  Craig  mansion. 
The  happy  young  couple  settled  down  in  Vevay  and  became  the  father  and 
mother  of  Edward  Eggleston,  the  First  of  the  Hoosiers  and  the  great  novelist 
of  Boyhood  on  the  Ohio. 

Young  Edward's  father  was  a  Virginian  by  birth  and  education,  and 
reared  his  children  after  the  manner  of  farmer  George  Craig.  Unfortunately,  the 
father  was  afflicted  with  tuberculosis,  and  his  son  Edward  inherited  the  same 
predisposition;  so  that  his  whole  life  was  one  long  battle  with  ill-health.  His 
younger  brother  George  was  robust  and  sound  to  the  core  and  they  too  became 
chums   and   scouts   in    the   great   world    of   Nature    around    them. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN  7 

Now  the  same  year  the  "Hoosier  Schoolmaster"  was  written,  there  was 
born  on  the  Ohio  River,  about  fifty  wiles  below  Madison,  a  Kentucky  boy 
who  so  loved  and  admired  Edward  Eggleston's  every  ideal  that  from  his  earliest 
childhood  he  dreamed  of  becoming  the  successor  of  the  great  Hoosier  romancer 
and  historian.  The  Hoosier  School  Stories  first  awakened  within  this  youth  the 
vision  and  love  of  his  own  beautiful  native  Ohio  Valley  and  its  simple,  demo- 
cratic life.  He  made  a  steamboat  trip  to  Cincinnati  with  his  parents  and  brothers 
when  he  was  ten  years  old  and  wrote  a  little  book  about  it,  his  first  venture 
into   authorship. 

Later  on  he  learned  to  read  and  interpret  the  people  of  his  own  little 
village,  and  wrote  a  series  of  "Corn-Cracker  School  Stories."  These  were  naturally 
in  imitation  of  Mr.  Eggleston's.  They  were  crudely  written  on  yellow  wrapping 
paper,  done  into  a  book,  and  illustrated  by  his  own  hand.  But,  as  Mr.  Eggleston 
used  to  say  about  his  own  stories,  "he  had  a  good  time  writing  them."  So  this 
Kentucky  youth  entertained  the  family  circle  many  an  evening  by  reading  the 
chapters  as  they  were  written  down  after  school  hours,  rollicking  with  the  lively 
incidents   of   the  day. 


EDWARD     EGGDESTON 


Singularly,  this  youth's  villains  invariably  became  the  chief  figures  in  his 
tales,  and  the  goody-goody  boys  and  girls  took  the  back  seat,  simply  because 
the  bad  boys  always  created  more  excitement  in  his  school  world.  The  others 
never  said  or  did  anything  worth  while.  In  a  word,  he  got  interested  in  real 
people  and  actual  situations  and  wrote  with  such  truth  and  naturalness  that  his 
work    in    time    attracted    attention. 

Now  Edward  Eggleston  grew  up  amid  the  great  anti-slavery  struggle  of 
the  forties  and  fifties  of  the  last  century  in  the  Middle  West  and  might  have 
wiitten  a  story  thrilling  with  the  mighty  drama  of  his  own  time  and  generation, 
because  his  own  social  awakening  came  through  that  same  big  struggle  and  drama. 

The  Hoosier  Circuit  Riders  of  early  Methodism  in  Southern  Indiana  were 
all  anti-slavery  men.  Peter  Cartright,  the  most  famous  of  all  backwoods  preachers, 
was    their   brave    and    devoted    chieftain. 


8  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Likewise  the  Presbyterian  pioneer  pastors  and  teachers  were  fearless  Aboli- 
tionists or  uncompromising  Emancipators.  Father  Dickey  and  his  son;  Father 
Martin.  Lyman  Beecher  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  all  followed  in  the  wake  of 
Governor   Jennings   against   slavery. 

The  Old  Louisville  Presbytery  of  a  century  ago  embraced  the  entire  region 
covered  by  the  Great  Liberators  of  those  pregnant  years:  and  that  is  why  we 
letain  the  same  spiritual  basis  and  boundary  in  the  story. 

Imagine  the  influence  this  would  have  on  a  growing  American  boy.  The 
tradition  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Kentucky  from  its  earliest  history  under 
Father  David  Rice  to  1860  was  likewise  anti-slavery  in  sentiment.  Gideon  Black- 
burn confirmed  Old  Center  College,  Kentucky,  in  this  social  faith  and  John 
Finley  Crowe,  founder  of  Hanover  College,  was  a  Kentuckian,  ordained  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville;  and  he  left  the  State  because  of  his  abolition  senti- 
ments. How  could  a  boy  come  into  manhood  under  such  traditions  without 
imbibing  the  sentiments  of  freedom  and  humanity  from  his  very  birth? 

Just  imagine  the  influence  of  the  Eggleston  friendship  alone  upon  his 
character  and  life,  especially  privileged  as  he  was  to  become  a  minister  and 
Social  Crusader  over  the  very  territory  and  among  the  same  type  of  people  that 
Eggleston  loved  so  well.  It  was  natural  therefore,  that  the  young  pastor's  message 
should   ring   clear   and    true    to    the   times   in    which    he   lived. 

In  the  same  way  he  went  about  among  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  churches 
and  schools  of  the  towns,  villages  and  country  places,  telling  the  stories  and 
relating  the  incidents  recorded  in  these  pages.  They  were  his  own  experiences 
and  discoveries,  largely.  He  learned  to  love  the  Hoosiers  just  as  he  did  the  Corn- 
crackers.  He  laughed  and  cried  over  the  comedy  and  tragedy  of  their  lives.  So 
did  he  encourage  and  cheer  them  in  their  heroic  struggles  with  poverty  and 
hardship,    unsympathy    and    social    injustice. 

The  one  ambition  of  his  life  seemed  to  be  to  love  and  serve  the  obscure, 
kind  hearted  folks.  At  all  events,  he  and  his  associate  Crusaders  lifted  the  torch 
of  truth  and  enlightenment  amidst  an  enviroment  of  error  and  ignorance  and 
superstition  that  would  have  tested  the  mettle  of  any  man.  That  they  won  out. 
we  think  our  story  will  aboundantly  testify.  Ours  is  the  Age  of  Gold,  doubt- 
less;  but  the  Golden  Age  presses  hard  upon  its  heels. 

No  one  but  the  young  pastor  himself  knew  the  agony  of  mind  and  travail 
of  soul  he  experienced  trying  to  reconcile  the  old  religious  and  the  new  social 
ideal.  He  did  not  compromise  or  emasculate  his  message.  He  simply  re-experi- 
enced and  expressed  the  dream  of  human  freedom  in  prayer  and  song  and  story 
for   the  untutored   rural   mind   and   heart. 

Edward  Eggleston  was  a  Methodist  Circuit  Rider  in  Southern  Indiana; 
but  he  was  the  same  age  in  years  as  my  father:  and  I  have  joyfully  recorded 
the  story  of  Rev.  J.  R.  Barnard,  D.  D.,  father  of  the  great  Lincoln  Sculptor, 
because  he,  too,  was  educated  in  the  same  time  and  ministry  and  seminary  as 
my  father  and  still  survives  with  vision  and  devotion  unabated.  It  was  the 
crowning  honor  of  my  own  young  life  to  be  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  the 
same  Old  Louisville  Presbytery  that  made  possible  the  work  and  spiritual  rewards 
of  the  Forerunners  and  Restorers  herein  described.  The  Centennial  Celebrations 
of   the  Old   Goshen   and   Vernon   Churches   have   been    in    the   nature    and    spirit    of 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN  9 

popular  festivals  in  Ancient  Israel.  And  these  Centennial  Chronicles  of  the  holy 
men  and  women  who  preceded  and  came  after  Abraham  Lincoln,  were  written 
as  a  testimony  for  all  the  coming  years.  Because  the  history  is,  after  all,  local, 
we  have  given  it  in  fuller  detail.  Otherwise,  it  has  been  totally  forgotten  and 
left   to   oblivion. 


CHAPTER    III 


^^^**-]    EW  and  valuable  historical   facts  have  been  brought  to   light   in  connec- 
^*     mr\       tion  with  the  Goshen  Centennial.      We  referred  to  the  union  of  the 
iJ  Charlestown    and    Goshen    Presbyterians    under    "Parson"    Todd    and 

other  pastors  long  ago.  The  old  Louisville  Presbytery  then  embraced 
all  this  section  and  Southern  Indiana,  and  the  meetings  of  Presbytery  brought 
together  some  famous  pioneer  preachers.  Rev.  John  F.  Crowe,  founder  of 
Hanover  College,  near  Madison,  Ind.,  and  of  the  Vernon  Presbyterian  Church, 
twenty-three  miles  north  of  Madison,  was  ordained  by  this  old  Presbytery  of 
Louisville.  He  was  an  outstanding  anti-slavery  leader.  Gideon  Blackburn, 
founder  of  the  Goshen  church,  was  another.  And  a  third  was  old  Father  John 
M.  Dickey,  founder  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Indiana,  as  many  called  him. 
These  men  were  all  Southern  born  and  were  imbued  with  the  sentiments  of 
Washington  and  Jefferson  and  Franklin  and  all  the  Revolutionary  fathers  on 
slavery  before  the  institution  rooted  itself  in  the  cotton-raising  South.  Their 
sentiments  were  moral  and  not  economic. 

This  old  Presbytery  of  Louisville  met  at  the  old  "Harrods  Creek  Union 
Meeting  House,"  in  the  locust  grove  by  the  pike  on  the  Wood  Mount  farm 
between  Goshen  and  Prospect,  in  the  spring  of  1825.  Rev.  W.  H.  Hopper, 
D.  D.,  stated  clerk  of  Louisville  Presbytery,  U.  S.,  has  made  careful  examination 
of  the  faded,  musty  old  records  in  his  custody  and  has  given  us  what  facts  he 
finds  about  the  Goshen  church  and  about  the  ordination  of  Rev.  John  F.  Crowe. 
We  write  this  here  for  permanent  record  in  our  church  annals.  Dr.  Hopper 
says  he  finds  no  direct  reference  to  the  organization  of  the  Goshen  church  in 
1825;  but  Presbytery  met  at  the  "Union"  or  "Harrods  Creek"  church  and 
adjourned  to  the  Goshen  church.  We  are  sticking  to  the  date  given  in  the  old 
Goshen  church  records,  which  is  1825,  and  let  the  matter  rest  there  until  further 
researches    and    disclosures    by    Dr.    Hopper    change    it. 

And  since  we  were  celebrating  the  Vernon  Church  Centennial,  May  11, 
1925,  the  facts  about  Rev.  John  F.  Crowe's  ordination  were  no  less  valuable. 
Hanover   College   was   joining   with    us   in    this   celebration. 

THE   OLD   GOSHEN   CHURCH 

"Louisville,    Ky.,    April    3.    1925. 
"Rev.    Lucien    V.    Rule,    Goshen,    Ky. 
"My    Dear   Brother    Rule: 

"I    am    enclosing    to    you    extracts    from    the    minutes    of    the    Presbytery    of 
Louisville  in   regard  to   the  ordination   of  Rev.   John   F.   Crowe,    as   requested. 

"In  regard  to  the  organization  of  the  Goshen  church,  may  I  state  that  I 
was   unable  to   find   any   record   of  it   in   the   minutes   of    1825,    or   near   that   date. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


I  1 


If  there  is  a  likelihood  of  any  mention  of  it  at  some  other  date,  I  will  be  glad 
to  look  further.  The  minutes  of  those  years  are  indistinct  and  the  reading  is 
difficult.  If  you  can  give  me  any  assistance  before  I  make  another  search  it 
will  help.  The  only  reference  I  could  see  to  Goshen  was  that  the  Presbytery 
met  at  the  Goshen  church  for  the  spring  meeting  of  1825.  The  adjournment 
preceding  that  was  to  the  Harrod's  Creek  church,  but  the  meeting  is  recorded 
held  at  Goshen  church.  Just  what  identity  existed  may  be  known  to  you.  I 
shall    be    glad    to    continue   this   investigation    at    your    suggestion. 

"Very  sincerely, 

"W.   H.   HOPPER,    Stated   Clerk." 

DR.  CROWE  IS  ORDAINED 

John  Finley  Crowe  lived  at  this  time  in  Shelby  County,  Kentucky  and 
was  a  young  man  of  rare  genius  and  culture,  "Ye  have  gotten  from  President 
Millis  of  Hanover  College  some  very  interestin  .'acts  about  his  history,  which 
we  will  give  in  another  chapter.  The  old  churches  mentioned  below  were  in  the 
country  outside   of   Louisville. 


Grove  where  the  old  '"Harrod's  Creek  Union  Meeting- 
House"  stood,  on  Wood  Mount  farm,  between  Goshen  and 
Prospect,  on  River  Road  11  miles  above  Louisville.  Here 
the  Old  Louisville  Presbytery  met  in  April,  1825.  This  old 
dhurch  and  the  Goshen  Church  were  organized  by  Gideon 
Blackburn. 


FOX  RUN  MEETINGHOUSE,   JUNE    7,    1816 

"The  Presbytery  met  according  to  adjournment  and  was  opened  by  a  sermon 
from  Revs.  2:10,  by  the  Moderator,  Rev.  Samuel  Shannon.  Mr.  John  F. 
Crowe  being  dismissed  from  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington  and  recommended 
to  the  care  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery  as  a  licentiate  in  good  standing,  he  was 
therefore    received    in    that    character    under    the    care    of   this    Presbytery." 


12  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

THURSDAY,  SECOND  DAY,  OCTOBER,    1817 

"The  Presbytery  of  Louisville  met  at  Pennsylvania  Run  Meeting  House 
agreeable  to  the  call  of  the  Moderator  and  was  opened  by  a  sermon  by  the 
Rev.  John  M.  Dickey,  from  Ps.  2:12.  Rev.  Daniel  C.  Banks  was  chosen 
Moderator,  Rev.  James  Vance  was  chosen  Clerk.  Presbytery  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Mr.   Vance's   tomorrow  night  at   7   o'clock." 

FRIDAY,    OCTOBER    8.    1817 

"Presbytery  met  agreeable  to  adjournment.  Mr.  John  F.  Crowe,  a  proba- 
tioner under  the  care  of  our  Presbytery,  having  been  appointed  to  ride  in  the 
character  of  a  missionary  three  months  in  a  country  not  supplied  with  ordained 
ministers,  and  it  being  proper  that  he  should  be  qualified  for  the  full  work  of 
the  ministry  in  such  a  case,  the  Presbytery  considered  it  expedient  to  attend 
to  Mr.  Crowe's  examination  with  a  view  to  his  ordination.  Mr.  Crowe  being 
examined  in  Experimental  Religion  and  appointed  to  preach  a  sermon,  Presbytery 
adjourned    to    meet    at    Pennsylvania    Run    Meetinghouse    at    12    o'clock. 

"12  o'clock — Presbytery  met  agreeable  to  adjournment.  Mr.  Crowe  deliver- 
ed a  sermon  from  Rom.  3:21-22.  Presbytery  resumed  the  examination  of  Mr. 
Crowe  on  Philosophy,  Theology,  Ecclesiastical  History,  Languages,  etc.  Pres- 
bytery adjourned  to  meet  this  evening  at  Mr.  Vance's  at  7  o'clock.  After  due 
consideration  Mr.  Crowe's  examination  and  trial  for  ordination  was  unanimously 
sustained.  On  motion,  resolution  that  it  be  expedient  and  proper  to  proceed 
to  ordain  Mr.  Crowe  tomorrow  at  1 2  o'clock.  Mr.  Cameron  was  appointed 
to  preach  the  ordination  sermon,  Mr.  Banks  to  preside  and  make  the  consecration 
prayer  and  give  the  charge  to  Mr.  Crowe  and  Mr.  Scott  to  make  the  concluding 
prayer.      Presbytery   adjourned   and    met    Saturday    morning. 

"At  12  o'clock  the  Presbvtery  proceeded  to  the  duties  preparatory  to  the 
ordination  of  Mr.  Crowe.  Rev.  Cameron  preached  the  ordination  sermon  from 
I  Tim.  4:16  and  Mr.  Crowe  was  then  solemnly  ordained  and  set  apart  to  the 
Gospel  ministry  by  prayer  and  laying  on  of  hands  of  the  Presbytery.  The 
consecration  prayer  was  made  and  the  charge  given  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  C  Banks, 
and   the  concluding  prayer   by    the   Rev.    Samuel    Scott." 


CHAPTER  IV 

(bxiuunx  ■£\\ackhxi%n  muh  ifp  %&$  (fy&lltgtm 

ISTORY  then  has  given  a  very  high  place  to  Dr.  John  Finley  Crowe, 
^T^™|  the   founder   of   Hanover   College,    forty   miles    up    the   river   from    us. 

I  ^  History  has  also  given  to  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn,  who  went  from  the 
pastorate  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  at  Louisville  and  Goshen  to 
Centre  College,  an  equally  high  renown.  Dr.  Blackburn  put  his  choicest  work 
in  the  Presbyterian  Academy,  conducted  by  his  son  at  Goshen.  We  are  now 
sure  that  Dr.  Blackburn  himself  took  part,  when  he  had  time  to  instruct  the 
pupils.  He  stands  out  in  history  with  great  significance.  He  was  of  the  Lincoln 
type,  as  the  following  rare  outline  of  his  character  will  show: 

"The  early  history  of  the  late  Dr.  Blackburn  is  a  remarkable  instance  of 
perseverance  in  the  face  of  difficulties.  Left  an  orphan  and  penniless,  when 
about  eleven  years  of  age,  (being  defrauded  out  of  the  handsome  patrimony  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars)  a  kind  schoolmaster  gave  him  instruction  gratuitously; 
and  he  obtained  a  situation  in  a  saw-mill,  where  he  tended  the  saw  from  dark 
till  daylight,  studying  by  a  fire  of  pine-knots.  In  this  way  he  earned  a  dollar 
every  night,  and  made  rapid  proficiency  in  his  studies.  Thus  he  struggled  on 
till  ready  to  enter  college.  To  defray  his  new  expense,  he  labored  as  a  surveyor 
for  four  months,  frequently  sleeping  in  a  cane-brake  to  avoid  the  Indians  and 
having  no  other  shelter  from  the  rain  but  a  blanket.  He  received  for  his  pay 
fourteen  horses,  valued  at  forty  dollars  apiece.  These  he  took  to  Maryland  and 
sold  for  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  with  which  he  discharged  all  his  debts  and  went 
through   Dickinson   College. 

"Thus  early  inured  to  hardships,  he  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  arduous 
duties  of  a  missionary  to  the  Cherokee  Indians,  to  which  he  was  appointed  by 
the  General  Assembly  in  1803,  when  thirty-one  years  of  age.  In  this  field  he 
labored  with  great  success  for  seven  years,  when  want  of  health  and  other  reasons, 
induced   him   to   relinquish   his   post. 

"Dr.  Blackburn  was  admired  as  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  popular 
orators  of  the  West.  In  theology  he  sided  warmly  with  the  New  School  party. 
The  last  years  of  his  life  were  employed  in  a  scheme  for  building  up  a  college 
in  Illinois  by  means  of  an  extensive  land  agency,  a  certain  portion  of  all  the  land 
purchased   being   appropriated   to   the   college." 

Francis  Snowden  and  his  wife  were  the  pioneer  people  who  were  more 
closely  associated  with  Gideon  Blackburn  when  he  founded  the  Old  Goshen 
church.  Elder  Snowden  came  of  a  Catholic  family  in  Maryland  and  his  wife, 
who  was  a  Winchester,  came  of  a  Catholic  family  in  Louisiana.  Their  daughter, 
Mary,  was  a  pupil  at  the  Blackburn  Academy  near  Goshen  and  her  most  intimate 
friend  was  Adalinc  Caldwell,   of  Charlestown.      During  the  War  of   1812   and  dur- 


14  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

ing  the  Indian  Wars  of  the  same  period,  Gideon  Blackburn  figured  heroically  in  all 
these  events  and  when  he  came  to  Louisville  as  pastor  in  1823  he  exerted  a  far- 
reaching  influence  over  the  Upper  River  Road  Country  above  Louisville.  The 
Goshen  congregation  embraced   the  leading   families   of  this   entire   section. 

Our  mother  remarked  one  day  that  she  inherited  her  mother's  friends. 
Adaline  Caldwell,  her  mother,  married  Thomas  J.  Woolfolk,  her  father,  and 
they  were  from  the  first  very  intimate  with  the  family  of  Francis  Snowden. 
Mary  and  Adaline  were  not  only  school  chums  together  under  Gideon  Blackburn 
and  his  son,  John,  at  the  Old  Academy  but  their  friendship  continued  unabated 
through  life.  Mary  went  South  and  was  married  to  a  Catholic  and  her  brother, 
Richard,  also  married  a  Catholic;  so  there  was  always  religious  tolerance  in  the 
Snowden  family.  Mary  was  very  reserved  and  some  people  declared  that  she 
became  so  after  she  married  a  Catholic;  but  Adaline  said  she  was  always  reserved 
and  people  just  did  not  understand  her.  She  was  true  as  gold  to  her  friends. 
There  is  no  record  or  tradition  that  Gideon  Blackburn  ever  abused  or  spoke  in 
a  hostile  manner  of  Catholic  believers;  for  the  record  is  all  to  the  contrary  that 
Catholic  people  were  often  fascinated  with  his  presentation  of  the  gospel  and 
became  Protestants  of  their  own  free  will  and  accord.  It  was  so  with  the 
Snowdens  and  Francis  Snowden  never  allowed  the  Catholic  faith  abused  at 
his  family   table. 

GIDEON   BLACKBURN   AND   GRANDMOTHER    SNOWDEN 

Richard  Snowden  built  a  beautiful  home  in  Louisville  and  lived  there 
some  time  with  his  family,  Robert,  Mary  and  Lavinia.  His  parents  remained  at 
the  old  homestead  near  Goshen.  They  were  very  simple,  quiet  folks  but  exceed- 
ingly hospitable  and  generous.  In  fact,  the  old  home  maintained  its  tradition 
and  custom  until  the  very  last  Snowden  crossed  its  threshold.  Richard  Snowden 
met  with  financial  reverses  and  in  due  season  the  old  home  in  the  country  was 
sold.  Grandmother  Snowden,  as  everybody  called  her,  lived  close  to  the  century 
mark  and  removed  to  the  city  of  Louisville  with  her  grandson,  Robert  and  his 
family.  Before  she  went  away  death  had  visited  her  almost  as  grievously  as  it 
did  Naomi  of  old.  Mrs.  Fannie  Ayres,  her  granddaughter  and  Mary  Ayres.  her 
great  granddaughter  were  stricken  and  died  within  a  few  hours  of  each  other. 
Our  mother  went  down  to  spend  the  day  and  night  with  her  and  to  comfort 
her,  and  while  she  was  there  word  came  that  Grandmother  Snowdens  sister. 
Mrs.  Hall,  of  Shelbyvillc,  had  died.  It  was  necessary  to  tell  her  this  also  and 
she  bore  it  with  a  beautiful   faith,   saying,    "We  will   not  be  separated   very   long." 

To  Grandmother  Snowden  we  arc  indebted  for  the  local  accounts  of  Gideon 
Blackburn's  coming  to  the  community  church  and  of  his  matchless  eloquence. 
She  also  left  after  her  an  original  steel  engraving  of  Dr.  Blackburn,  which  has 
been  the  means  of  preserving  his  saintly  features  to  posterity.  Without  this 
original  no  adequate  portrait  of  him  would  have  survived.  We  are  enabled  now  to 
trace  out  clearly  the  sources  of  that  inimitable  and  inspired  eloquence  which 
caused  one  of  his  old  pupils  to  say  that  he  was  always  followed  by  "weeping, 
wondering  and  admiring  audiences."  As  we  question  today  how  this  border, 
backwoods  boy  became  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  American  eloquence,  we 
can  but  believe  there  was  great  gift  and  grace  in  his  ancestral  line.  His  native 
county,    Augusta,    in    Virginia,    was    a    frontier    region,    at    the    time    of    his    birth 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


]=> 


August  27,  1772,  but  the  boy's  people  were  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  in  very 
humble  circumstances,  indeed,  but  devout  and  noble-minded;  and  the  boy 
Gideon  was  named  for  a  maternal  uncle,  Gideon  Richie,  "a  pious  young  man 
without  family,  who,  observing  that  he  was  a  youth  of  much  more  than  ordinary 
promise,  so  far  adopted  him  as  to  undertake  to  educate  him  at  his  own  expense. 
He  became  hopefully  the  subject  of  renewing  grace  at  the  age  of  about  fifteen." 


GIDEON    BLACKBURN 


THE  FIRST  LOG  COLLEGE  AND  ITS  FOUNDER 

Young  Gideon  lived  most  of  the  time  until  his  twelfth  year  with  his 
grandfather,  General  Blackburn,  of  Old  Revolutionary  days,  and  we  may  well 
imagine  that  he  exerted  a  decided  influence  upon  the  lad's  future.  In  fact. 
he  was  surrounded  by  most  excellent  people  on  both  sides  of  the  house,  and  he 
is  enrolled  with  the  group  of  great  pulpit  orators  and  public  speakers  produced 
by  a  type  of  pioneer  school  which  first  bore  this  name  set  up  in  Pennsylvania 
about  the  year  17  28  by  Rev.  William  Tennent,  an  Irish  minister  of  the  Episco- 
pal church,  who  was  born  in  1673.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College. 
Dublin,  and  after  ordination  acted  as  chaplain  to  an  Irish  nobleman,  but  con- 
scientious   convictions    and     an     increasing     family,     decided     him     to     migrate     to 


16 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


America,  where  he  landed  in  Philadelphia,  in  September,  1718.  He  was  cor- 
dially received  by  a  maternal  cousin,  James  Logan,  who  was  a  prominent  public 
official  and  who  ten  years  later  gave  him  the  fifty  acres  of  land  upon  which 
the    original    "Log    College"    was    built. 

Mr.  Tennent  came  to  America  so  well  recommended  that  within  two  weeks 
of  his  arrival  it  was  made  possible  for  him  to  enter  the  Presbyterian  church  and 
ministry.  Upon  his  location  at  Nashaminy,  in  Bucks  county,  Pa.,  in  1726, 
"being  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  well-educated  as  well  as  pious 
ministry,  he  resolved  on  establishing  a  school  at  which  young  men  might  acquire 
the  requisite  qualifications  for  the  sacred  office.  He  was  admirably  fitted  to  con- 
duct such  a  school,  being  a  fine  general  scholar,  as  well  as  a  thoroughly  read 
theologian;  and  with  the  Latin  language  he  was  so  familiar,  that  he  could  write 
and  speak  it,  not  only  with  perfect  ease  but  with  remarkable  elegance.  He  is 
said  to  have  delivered  a  Latin  oration  before  the  Synod,  not  long  after  he  was 
admitted  a  member,  which  was  greatly  praised  for  its  correct  and  splendid 
diction  and  which  showed  the  most  finished  education  which  at  that  time  was 
obtained  in  the  mother  country." 


FRANCIS    SNOWDEN 
Sturdy    old    Pioneer    EQder    of    Goshen    Church. 


His  noble  ideal  of  making  education  democratic  in  America  is  next  witnessed" 
when  we  are  told  that  he  erected  an  humble  building  on  the  land  given  to 
him  by  his  cousin,  James  Logan.  The  building  stood  within  a  few  steps  of 
his  own  house;  and  it  was  but  a  short  time  until  students  flocked  to  his 
quarters.  "His  expectations  in  this  enterprise  were  more  than  realized."  says 
the  historian,  "for  here  before  many  years  had  passed,  had  been  educated  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  most  distinguished  Presbyterian  Ministers  of  their 
time.  Among  them  were  Tcnncnt's  own  sons,  Samuel  and  John  Blair,  William 
Robinson  and  others.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  the  establishment  of  this 
institution,  known  as  the  "Log  College,"  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history 
of  clerical   education,   at  least   in   the  Presbyterian  church,   in   this  country." 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


1" 


EDUCATION  AND  REGENERATION 

The  Presbyterian  historian  says  the  Log  College  was  located  about 
twenty  miles  north  of  Philadelphia  and  hands  down  to  us  a  vivid  account  of 
the  great  purpose  inspiring  the  founder,  Rev.  William  Tennent:  "The  spirit  in 
which  the  institution  was  established  augured  well  for  its  future.  In  Ireland 
and  Scotland  the  signs  of  prevalent  worldliness,  foreshadowing  a  sad  apostasy, 
were  already  apparent.  In  this  country  the  primitive  zeal  of  Makemie's  compeers 
was  already  on  the  decline.  Revivals  of  religion  were  nowhere  heard  of,  and 
an  orthodox  creed  and  a  decent  external  conduct  were  the  only  points  on  which 
inquiry  was  made  when  persons  were  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the 
church.  Vital  piety  had  almost  deserted  the  church.  The  substance  of  preach- 
ing was  'a  dead  orthodoxy,'  in  which  little  emphasis  was  laid  upon  regeneration. 
a  change  of  heart,  or  the  terrors  of  the  law  against  sin.  With  such  a  state 
of  things  Mr.  Tennent  had  no  sympathy.  His  warm  evangelical  spirit  led 
him  to  strive  with  all  his  energies,  to  effect  a  change.  The  young  men  who  came 
under  his  influence  in  their  course  of  education  were  inspirited  to  become  his 
efficient  allies." 


Home  of  Elder  Francis   Snowden,   Goshen,    Ky.,    when   G'ideoi 
Blaclkburn    was    such    a    welcome    guest. 


The  establishment  of  this  famous  Log  College,  called  so  in  contempt, 
the  historians  tell  us,  was  in  providential  preparation  for  the  great  revival 
of  which  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  were  the  exponents,  nearly  two  cen- 
turies ago.  Of  this  place  of  prayer  and  light  and  liberty  Whitefield  himself 
wrote:  "The  place  wherein  the  young  men  study  is,  in  contempt,  called  THE 
COLLEGE.  It  is  a  log  house  about  twenty  feet  long,  and  near  as  many 
broad;  and  to  me  it  seemed  to  resemble  the  school  of  the  old  prophets,  for 
their  habitations  were  mean;  and  that  they  sought  not  great  things  for  them- 
selves is  plain  from  those  passages  of  scripture  wherein  we  are  told  that  each 
of   them    took    them    a    beam    to    build    them    a    house;    and    that    at    the    feast    of 


18  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

the  sons  of  the  prophets,  one  of  them  put  on  the  pot  whilst  the  others 
went  to  fetch  some  herbs  out  of  the  field.  All  that  we  can  say  of  most  of  our 
universities  is,  they  are  glorious  without.  From  this  despised  place  seven  or 
eight  worthy  ministers  of  Jesus  have  lately  been  sent  forth." 

Thus  on  the  frontier  of  Pennsylvania  stood  the  New  World  School  of  the 
Prophets  that  raised  up  men  and  ministers  who  turned  the  spiritual  tide 
for  after  generations;  and  in  the  good  green  woods  near  Goshen  Gideon  Black- 
burn and  his  son  John  established  an  Academy  and  church  which  were  intended 
to  lay  similar  foundations  for  the  future.  In  subsequent  chapters  we  shall 
see  how  the  pupils  of  these  institutions  passed  out  with  a  vision  and  devotion 
that  revolutionized  the  age  and  society  in  which  they  lived  and  labored. 

GIDEON  BLACKBURN'S  LOG  COLLEGE  AND  TEACHER 

Samuel  Doak  was  the  man  who  educated  Gideon  Blackburn.  He  was  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent,  born  in  Virginia  in  1749,  of  devout  Presbyterian  parents; 
labored  on  the  frontier  farm  till  he  was  sixteen  years  old;  experienced  saving 
grace;  and  began  his  own  education  in  a  border  school  which  was  the  Log 
College  out  of  which  Washington  and  Lee  University,  at  Lexington,  Va., 
afterward  grew.  We  thus  see  this  line  of  Log  Colleges  belting  the  entire 
territorv  of  early  times.  Young  Doak  begged  his  father  to  put  all  his  inher- 
itance into  an  education  for  him ;  he  boarded  himself  in  a  hut  near  the  school 
house  or  college,  tutored  other  pupils,  and  mastered  the  classics  sufficiently  to 
enter  Princeton  College,   New  Jersey. 

This  young  man,  Samuel  Doak,  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Hanover 
Presbytery,  Virginia,  in  1777;  and  later  on  he  removed  to  the  border  territory 
of  North  Carolina  and  East  Tennessee.  Here  he  had  some  trying  experiences 
with  the  Indians,  such  as  his  future  pupil,  Gideon  Bi'ackburn,  endured  in  his 
early  ministry.  He  was  a  member  of  an  early  territorial  convention  to  form 
a  constitution  and  endeavored  to  incorporate  a  clause  pledging  the  new  common- 
wealth to  establish  a  university  by  the  year  1787  and  to  endow  it  liberally. 
But  in  this  he  was  disappointed,  and  so  he  removed  to  a  community  on  what 
was  then  Little  Limestone,  Washington  county,  North  Carolina.  Here  he  pur- 
chased a  frontier  farm,  built  a  Log  College  and  Church,  and  established  himself 
as  a  pastor  and  teacher  of  youth.  This  tvas  the  first  infant  college  planted 
in  all  the  great  Mississippi  Valley.  The  North  Carolina  legislature  first  in- 
corporated it  as  Martin  Academy,  in  1785  and  in  1795  it  became  Washington 
College.  Mr.  Doak  was  the  head  of  it  from  1785  to  1818.  His  church 
ciders  were  his  board  of  trustees,  with  some  outside  additions.  He  once  attended 
the  General  Assembly  in  Philadelphia  and  brought  back  upon  a  pack  horse 
the  nucleus  of  a  college  library  tied  up  in  a  big  sack. 

WISDOM    IN    THE    BACKWOODS 

Imagine  a  man  somewhat  above  the  middle  stature,  with  a  large  muscular 
frame,  well  formed,  and  in  later  life  rather  inclined  to  corpulency,  full  chest, 
wide  shoulders  and  short  neck  indicating  apoplexy,  of  which  he  afterward 
died — and  you  have  the  physical  outline  of  Rev.  Samuel  Doak,  this  great  back- 
woods    teacher     and     scholar     who     trained     Gideon     Blackburn     for     the     gospel 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN  19 

ministry.  He  was  a  solemn  and  commanding  man.  His  voice  was  powerful, 
even  stentorian,  but  not  musical ;  but  he  knew  how  to  train  up  great  preachers. 
His  eyes  were  deep  blue  and  at  times  seemed  lustreless,  for  he  was  not  a  man 
to  give  way  to  feeling  and  emotion;  nor  was  he  a  brilliant  and  inspiring  in- 
structor. He  was  solid  and  sensible,  thorough  and  dignified,  and  controlled  his 
pupils  with  a  masterly  will  and  unfailing  helpfulness. 

Dr.  Doak  was  a  man  of  peculiar  habits  at  home  and  in  the  school  room. 
He  read  less  and  spent  hours  in  secluded  thought  as  he  became  more  and 
more  familiar  with  the  subjects  he  taught.  He  was  kindhearted  but  gave 
no  attention  to  conversation  or  conviviality.  His  sermons  and  college  subjects 
absorbed  all  his  leisure  and  meditation.  He  was  hospitable  but  turned  all 
visitors  over  to  the  family  to  entertain  when  he  was  busy.  When  he  left  the 
class  room  he  went  to  his  study,  reclining  in  a  big  arm  chair,  bent  his  head 
back,  closed  his  eyes,  and  in  pure  abstract  reflection  prepared  his  sermons  and 
lessons  for  the  congregation  and  the  student  body. 

In  the  class  room  Dr.  Doak  pursued  the  same  plan.  He  lay  at  ease  in  his 
big  chair  and  could  hear  two  or  three  classes  in  the  languages  recite  without 
confusion  at  the  same  time.  He  did  not  divide  his  pupils  into  Fresh,  Soph, 
Junior  and  Senior,  but  allowed  each  one  to  make  progress  and  advance  ac- 
cording to  his  individual  capacity  and  inclination.  Furthermore,  he  encouraged 
and  required  his  boys  to  do  their  own  thinking;  he  sternly  rebuked  stupid 
subservience,  and  enthused  his  classes  to  stand  upon  their  own  opinions  and 
to  respect  others  for  so  doing.  He  went  back  to  the  subjects  of  chemistry 
and  Hebrew  when  he  was  sixty-five  years  of  age  and  mastered  them  himself 
as  they  were  not  in  the  college  course  when  he  attended  Princeton  as  a   youth. 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  HARDSHIP 

The  section  of  country  where  Dr.  Doak's  Log  College  was  located  was 
at  the  union  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee.  Meal  was  so  scarce 
when  he  went  there  that  he  was  compelled  to  return  thirty  miles  to  get  it  and 
other  supplies.  The  Cherokee  Indians  were  round  about  that  section  of  country 
^nd  hostile  to  the  settlers.  They  came  to  the  cabin  where  young  Doak  and 
his  wife  lived  at  that  time.  He  was  away.  Mrs.  Doak  heard  the  dogs  barking 
and  slipped  out  with  her  infant  child  to  hide  in  the  woods.  She  saw  the  red 
men  enter  the  cabin,  remove  some  of  the  furniture  and  set  fire  to  the  house. 
Her  little  babe  did  not  awaken,  nor  did  she  make  any  outcry.  She  escaped 
by  a  blind  path  ten  miles  to  the  nearest  station,  where  she  found  her  husband 
the   next   day. 

These  adventures  were  common  experiences.  One  Sunday  at  service  the 
cry  of  "Indians,  Indians — the  Ragsdale  family  is  murdered,"  rang  out  on  the 
air.  Pastor  Doak  stopped,  led  in  a  word  of  prayer,  dismissed  the  congregation, 
seized  his  rifle  and  led  the  men  against  the  savages.  Another  time  his  classes 
were  interrupted  by  the  same  alarm.  He  dismissed  his  school  and  went  with 
his  pupils  to  join  the  nearest  military  command  to  repel  the  attack.  It  was 
this  schooling  in  courage  and  initiative,  in  faith  and  fearlessness,  that  made 
Gideon   Blackburn   so   great   a   leader,    a   veritable   Gideon   from   his   youth    up. 


CHAPTER  V 


a\xh  (01  it  3Jrrutm  Clmxch 


^^^^^■^  HE    Vernon,     Indiana,    Presbyterian    church    celebrated    the    one    hun- 
|     I  "^  dreth   anniversary   of   its   origin    Sunday   night,    May    10,    1925,    in    a 

V  I  S  magnificent    service    of    music,    song    and    public    address.       On    that 

memorable  evening  honor  and  reverence  were  bestowed  upon  one 
great  and  intrepid  spiritual  pioneer,  Rev.  John  Finley  Crowe,  the  founder  of  the 
Vernon  church  and  the  father  of  Hanover  College,  down  on  the  river  twenty- 
three  miles  away.  As  a  similar  meeting  will  be  held  before  long  at  the  Goshen 
Presbyterian  church  in  honor  of  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn,  founder  of  the  church 
and  early  President  of  Centre  College,  Danville,  Kentucky,  when  Dr.  Crowe 
was  laying  foundations  of  a  like  character  at  Hanover  and  Vernon,  we  will 
tell  the  story  of  this  celebration  and  of  Dr.   Crowe  in  a  worthy   manner. 

President  Millis  of  Hanover  College  could  not  come  to  Vernon  for  the 
address  on  Dr.  Crowe,  but  sent  in  his  place  one  of  the  most  gifted,  humor- 
ous and  eloquent  ministers  in  all  the  Synod  of  Indiana — Rev.  Dr.  Frank  O. 
Ballard,  Professor  of  English  Bible  at  Hanover  College.  Dr.  Ballard,  with  Mrs. 
Ballard,  Prof.  Chas.  R.  Glazer,  musical  director  at  Hanover,  singers  of  rare 
excellence,  arrived  in  Vernon  at  6  p.  m.  and  were  met  by  Elder  Nauer  of  the 
Men's  Brotherhood,  Elders  Jordan,  Carney,  Wagner  and  Benson.  Deacons 
Jordan,  Welker,  Eitel  and  a  large  committee  group  escorted  the  visitors  to 
an  elegant  supper  at  the  hotel,  after  which  Dr.  Ballard  addressed  the  company 
on  the  subject  of  a  community  house  in  Vernon — the  need  of  it;  how  Mr. 
Graham  Brown,  of  Louisville,  had  assisted  Madison  in  building  such  a  hall 
to  keep  its  boys  and  girls  off  the  streets  at  night,  and  out  of  evil  associa- 
tions. 

AN    OLD-TIME    HOME-COMING 

Dr.  Ballard  then  recalled  his  boyhood  town,  Athens.  Ohio,  a  university 
center,  where  one  of  the  most  delightful  home-comings  imaginable  was  given; 
and  where  a  little  runt  of  a  street  Arab  about  town,  since  risen  to  fortune  and 
public  notice,  starred  as  the  benefactor  of  his  native  place.  Thus,  said  Dr. 
Ballard,  an  old  home  community  like  Athens  or  Vernon  may  call  and  count 
upon  its  loyal  sons  and  daughters  from  all  over  the  land  to  do  their  bit  for 
a  worthy  community  enterprise  when  they  come  back  to  the  old  roof  tree. 
It  so  happened  that  a  Vernon  young  man,  Roy  Hinchman,  chairman  of  the 
North  Vernon  Board  of  Deacons,  was  in  the  audience  that  evening;  and  his 
meeting  with  Dr.  Ballard  was  delightful  because  he  had  spent  quite  a  number 
of    years    in    Athens,    Ohio,    with    his    family    before    returning    to    North    Vernon 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


21 


to  live.  Mr.  Hinchman  is  a  most  cultured  and  companionable  Freemason; 
and  we  look  to  him  to  do  many  things  for  the  young  people  of  the  commu- 
nity. Prof.  L.  A.  Jackson,  of  the  Vernon  High  School,  was  another  leadei 
of  youth  present  whose  work  counts  in  the  future  of  the  town.  The  Indiana- 
polis Sunday  Star  announced  an  article  on  the  proposed  Vernon  Community 
House,   to  appear  May    17. 

The  old  Vernon  church  was  built  in  1837,  was  enlarged  ten  years  ago,  and 
had  been  beautifully  repaired  and  repainted  for  this  centennial  year.  It  was 
crowded  on  the  night  of  the  celebration  with  people  from  all  the  region 
round,  the  North  Vernon  and  Vernon  people  predominating.  The  songs  of 
the  Hanover  singers  were  exquisite;  and  then  the  musical  talent  of  the  Vernon 
church,  led  by  Prof.  Jackson  and  Mrs.  Nauer,  pianist,  gave  a  series  of  songs  and 
anthems  that  delighted  the  audience. 


WifiF  ,■ 

!„               Y<^Sfc 

IS/  i  •»  -y'""W'    ■" 

JLli               -  &$m 

W-i^C  "  t  ■ 

^ffStT '               V'  ! 

~'^X%  i                  '-"-V.        ■ 

y :^i^  J^MSsd 

r    "  ";    ^'^'^mJr'-^'-^'- 

'}'S-W  '  "i;-  -^" 

":f^v^|1^^^3|^HH^l 

i  '    ?,.    i      i*\    '':-   '  ,^- .  i 

l^^-.fcJ'M^  •  • '^"*       . 

. ':    >     ■-  ~ 

HANOVER  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 

Hanover  Presbyterian  Church,  founded  February  11,  1S20,  by  Rev- 
Thomas  C.  Searl,  who  was  pastor  of  Madison  and  Hanover  Churches,  being- 
installed  by  Louisville  Presbytery  August  13,  1820.  He  died  October  15,  1821. 
January  16,  1823,  Hanover  Church  called  Rev.  John  Fin  ley  Crowe,  of  Shelby- 
ville,  Ky.,  as  pastor.  He  accepted,  moved  over  in  May,  1823  and  was  ins  tall  lied 
August  13  by  Louisville  Presbytery.  He  had  been  teacher  of  an  Academy 
at  Shelbyville,  Ky.,  and  pastor  of  all  the  region  around.  He  conducted  Sun- 
day Schools  among  the  slave®  with'  great  success  and  preached  to  them,  but 
buildings  were  denied  to  him.  He  then  began  publishing  a  carefully  edited 
Anti-Slavery  paper.  Protests,  warnings  and  threats  followed.  He  suffered 
great  mental  distress,  the  loss  of  his  paper  amd  the  support  of  his  people; 
but  he  determined  to  go  ahead  with  his  crusade.  The  call  to  Hanover  came 
and  he  wrote,  "By  the  good  hand  of  G-od  upon  me,  have  I  been  preserved 
through  dangers  and  led.  as  I  trust,  by  a  wise  and  holy  Providence  to 
Hanover,  Indiana,  the  land  of  civil  and  religious  liberty."  President  Millis, 
of  Hanover  College,  insists  that  Dr.  Crowe's  dream  of  abolishing  human 
slavery  was  deeply  identical  with  his  vision  of  Evangelism  and  Missionary 
Service.  In  a  word,  it  was  a  spiritual  conceptiom  and  purpose  from  which 
he    never    wavered. 


SHYING  OFF   "THE  AMFN  CORNER" 

Dr.  Ballard  kept  the  crowd  in  rare  good  humor  between  his  inspiring 
descriptions  of  the  life  and  work  of  Dr.  Crowe.  He  said  he  had  always 
wondered    why    church    people    of    Scotch-Irish    descent    shy    of    sitting    up    front 


22 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


in  service.  But  when  he  saw  a  pastoral  subscription  list  of  the  old  Hanover 
church  during  Dr.  Crowe's  stay  there,  he  understood.  John  Smith  sub- 
scribed two  bags  of  corn.  Peter  Brown  gave  three  bags  of  potatoes.  Isaac 
Jones  put  down  some  other  food  article  for  man  or  beast;  and  the  front  of 
the    church    was    used       by    the    deacons    to    pile    the    pastor's    salary    up    in    front 


THE    OLD    VBltXOX     IMtKSBYTEUlAX    CHURCH 
Erected    in    18,37. 


of  him,  as  scarcely  any  money  was  to  be  had  in  those  hard  times.  Dr.  Ballard 
said  that  the  head  of  the  family  always  brought  his  rifle  into  the  church 
with  him  and  ushered  the  wife  and  children  in  the  pew  first,  setting  his  firearm 
against  the  seat,  in  case  of  sudden  Indian  attack.  Since  we  arc  creatures  of 
hereditary  habits  we  sit  back  in  church  today  and  the  man  always  hands  the 
lady  and   little  ones   into   the  pew   as  long  ago. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN  23 

JOHN  FINLEY  CROWE  DESCRIBED 

Dr.  Ballard's  word  picture  of  John  Finley  Crowe  was  that  of  a  spiritual 
artist — being  in  substance  somewhat  as  follows:  "One  hundred  years  ago 
this  May  11,  there  came  into  these  woods  and  wilds  upon  horseback  a  tall 
spare,  wiry  young  man  of  thirty-eight  years.  There  was  a  light  in  his  eye 
and  his  tread  was  firm,  for  he  came  as  another  apostle  of  the  cross  to  plant 
this  church  in  the  western  wilderness,  as  he  planted  many  more.  Before  he 
had  finished  his  career  he  had  traveled  as  far  as  Saint  Paul  from  Arabia  to 
Rome.  This  is  the  Presbyterian  centennary  period  in  Southern  Indiana.  The 
town  of  Hanover  celebrated  five  years  ago;  the  Carmel  Presbyterian  church  shortly 
before,  and  now  yours.  One  hundred  years  seems  very  long  to  most  of  us. 
When  I  was  a  wee  lad  five  years  seemed  like  an  age;  but  now  it  seems  but  a  span 
of  time. 

"There  is  no  contemporary  of  Dr.  Crowe's  coming  here  in  the  town 
tonight.  There  is  a  painting  of  him  in  Hanover  College  chapel,  with  other 
fascinating  portraits  to  me.  His  is  a  full  length  likeness,  with  idealized  college 
buildings  in  the  background  of  the  Greek  type  of  architecture.  He  was  a  strong, 
vigorous,  pioneer  soul  who  braved  Indians  and  fevers  and  wild  beasts,  riding 
through  swamps  and  thickets,  swimming  creeks  and  rivers,  to  organize  churches 
in  Indiana  and  Illinois.  John  M.  Dickey,  James  H.  Johnson,  Telle  H.  Brown, 
George  Logan,  a  layman,  called  Squire  Logan,  a  giant  in  strength,  called  up 
before  the  church  now  and  then  for  the  errors  of  the  flesh,  but  a  brave,  good 
brother  nevertheless;  Judge  Dunn,  called  Captain  Dunn  for  his  service  against 
the  Indians — these  were  a  few  of  the  men  of  God  around  John  Finley  Crowe. 
Dunn  and  Crowe  together  gave  the  land  for  Hanover  College.  Dunn  was 
from  Danville,  Kentucky.  He  came  over  here  as  an  Abolitionist  and  took  up 
land  in  the  forest.  His  was  the  first  name  on  the  charter  roll  of  twenty- 
three  members  of  Hanover  church  that  called  young  Crowe  over  here  from 
Shelbyville,  Kentucky,  in  1823.  They  both  sleep  now  in  the  beautiful  old 
cemetery  at  Hanover  overlooking  the  Ohio — God's  Acre;  and  their  works  do 
follow  them.  Judge  Dunn  pushed  on  to  Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  in  those  early 
times  and  was  a  charter  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  there  and  gave 
the  campus  for  Wabash  College.  Not  long  ago  I  had  a  little  boy  call  the  roll 
of  the  charter  members  of  Old  Hanover  church — one  after  another,  and  there 
was   no   response,    for  they   have  all   long  since   responded   to   the   roll   on   high. 

COMES  TO  HANOVER 

"There  was  a  young  pastor  at  Hanover  before  Dr.  Crowe  came.  His 
name  was  Searl,  and  the  name  Hanover  was  first  given  to  the  town  in  honor 
of  the  old  home  town  of  the  pastor's  wife  in  Hanover,  New  Hampshire.  It 
was  first  called  New  Hanover  and  South  Hanover  down  here,  having  no 
pioneer  name  but  the  "Dunn  and  Logan  Settlement"  until  the  church  and  town 
took  on  the  name  mentioned.  Pastor  Searl  was  a  great  scholar  and  was  on 
the  educational  board  that  framed  the  laws  of  the  early  school.  His  death 
was  a  calamity;  but  there  were  numbers  of  those  fine  young  men  who  came 
from  the  East  and  South  who  came  out  here  and  perished  one  after  another 
in  the  wilderness.  Hanover  College  was  founded  to  help  raise  up  a  native 
Presbyterian  ministry  that  could  endure  the  climate  and  its  hardships  and  serve 
the  pioneer  people. 

"Now  John  Finley  Crowe's  ancestors  were  English  people.  His  paternal 
grandfather  came  from  England.  His  paternal  grandmother  was  a  Grigg, 
a   Scotch   Presbyterian.      There   were   six   sons   and    four   daugters.      The    father    of 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


25 


John  Finley  Crowe  was  Benjamin  Crowe,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  who  married 
Anne  Grigg  and  removed  to  North  Carolina.  His  military  skill  in  fighting 
Indians  was  such  that  a  pioneer  station  was  named  for  him  in  the  Tar  Heel 
State. 

"By  the  shifting  of  territorial  boundary  lines  John  Finley  Crowe  was 
born  in  Tennessee  June  17,  1787,  two  years  before  the  adoption  of  our  con- 
stitution as  a  united  nation.  He  died  at  Hanover  January  17,  1860,  aged  73 
years.  It  is  of  interest  to  mention  that  just  before  his  death,  being  very  far 
gone,  a  messenger  came  over  that  Sunday  morning  to  tell  him  that  prayers  had 
been  offered  in  his  behalf  at  the  church  services.  Dr.  Crowe  remarked,  'I  did 
not  think  they  prayed  for  the  dead.' 


NORTH    VERNON    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 


EARLY    RELIGIOUS    AWAKENING 

"In  1802  John  Finley  Crowe  and  his  foreparents  removed  to  Louisiana, 
and  he  tells  us  in  one  of  the  several  memoir  manuscripts  left  by  him  that  the 
Sabbath  Day  had  not  then  crossed  the  Mississippi  River.  We  next  find  the 
family  in  Missouri.  There  were  no  church  privileges.  The  people  did  not 
appreciate  the  gospel  and  yet  this  lad  had  determined  to  become  a  minister 
before  he  was  converted.  At  thirteen  years  of  age  he  had  a  serious  illness  and 
reflected  long  and  deeply  on  his  spiritual  condition.  Yet  thus  far  there  was 
no  spiritual  experience.  A  Methodist  evangelist  who  penetrated  those  wilds 
found  the  people  so  rude,  the  Indians  so  bad,  and  the  prospects  so  poor  to 
preach    that    he    returned    to    a    more    settled    country.       But    this    backwoods    boy 


26  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

was  not  without  witness.  There  was  a  manhood  and  Christian  modesty  about 
him  always,  but  he  heard  the  whisper  of  a  great  destiny.  The  gentle  breeding 
and  quality  of  the  youth  were  evident;  his  bones  were  ivory  and  the  gospel 
made  a  hero  of  him.  Somehow  the  Word  of  Life  found  him  in  the  back- 
woods country  and  called  him  to  become  a  man  of  God. 

EDUCATED  ON  WHISKEY  MONEY 

"He  was  poor.  He  cleared  six  acres  of  land  for  $60  with  which  to  pay 
for  an  education.  Just  think  of  the  prodigious  amount  of  labor  that  involved! 
He  got  a  horse,  saddle  and  bridle  and  rode  400  miles  through  the  woods  from 
Missouri  to  Danville,  Kentucky,  where  he  heard  that  a  Dr.  Priestly  had  a 
classical  school.  But  it  was  before  the  days  of  Centre  College  by  some  years, 
and  Dr.  Priestly  had  removed  to  Nashville.  But  the  lad  had  an  uncle,  William 
Crowe,  near  Danville.  Two  cousins  lived  there;  and  they  were  a  jolly, 
pleasure-loving  family;  but  John  Finley  Crowe's  mind  was  on  spiritual  light  and 
the  passion  for  an  education.  An  older  man  helped  him.  He  went  on  into 
his  quest  for  a  school  or  academy  where  he  might  pursue  his  studies.  He  sold 
his  horse  for  $100,  got  employment  in  a  distillery  and  got  pay  for  his  labor 
in  good  whiskey.  He  had  no  evil  conscience  about  it  at  the  time  for  it  was 
the  universal  custom.  He  shipped  it  to  St.  Louis;  and  after  a  classical  training 
at  Transylvania  University  at  Lexington  for  two  years  he  set  out  for  Princeton 
Seminary,  New  Jersey,  where  he  attended  in  1814  and  1815.  We  may  remark 
in  passing  that  John  Finley  Crowe  left  his  comment  on  record  about  the  liquor 
business. 

'I    trouble    to    think    I    got    the    money    for    my    education    with    a    poison 
more  deadly  than   the  Plagues  of  Egypt.' 

"WHOM.    HAVING   NOT   SEEN,    WE    LOVE" 

"He  likewise  was  an  Abolitionist.  The  Blythe  family  were  Kentucky 
landlords  and  slaveholders;  but  they  freed  their  slaves  and  got  John  Finley 
Crowe  to  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  an  education  to  fit  them  for  liberty.  He 
came  over  here  from  Shelbyville,  Kentucky,  where  he  published  an  Anti-Slavery 
paper.  One  hundred  years  ago  this  May  11,  he  came  up  here  to  Vernon  and 
organized  your  church.  He  must  have  been  very  happy  here.  Somehow  the 
spirit  of  a  first  founder  nearly  always  inheres  in  the  rocks  and  trees  and  soil 
of  a  place,  the  spirit  of  the  locality  wc  call  it.  But  I  have  studied  the  life  and 
portrait  and  work  of  John  Finley  Crowe  down  there  at  Hanover  until  I  have 
come  to  love  him  with  a  very  intense  and  personal  feeling.  Is  it  not  strange 
and  beautiful  how  wc  can  have  a  sentiment  for  the  soul  of  some  one  we  never 
saw   or  knew   in   the  flesh.''" 

Dr.  Ballard  made  reference  to  manuscripts  of  college  history  left  by  Dr. 
Crowe.  The  Board  of  Trustees  in  1857  requested  him  to  prepare  such  a  his- 
tory from  personal  knowledge  and  memory.  We  saw  a  copy  of  it  at  Hanover 
a  few  months  ago,  visiting  Dr.  Millis  for  information  about  Dr.  Crowe.  Wc 
gathered  many  interesting  points  which  Dr.   Ballard  touched  on   in  his  address. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN  27 

PAYING  FOR   AN  EDUCATION   LONG   AGO 

The  Manual  Labor  System  was  introduced  into  the  college  at  the  beginning 
to  provide  the  students  a  means  of  self-support  and  to  keep  them  in  good  health 
by  exercise;  but  it  failed  because  the  cost  of  equipment  was  too  heavy.  This 
was  the  same  system  in  operation  at  Oneida  Institute  New  York,  years  ago 
and  was  contemplated  at  the  Masonic  Academy  at  La  Grange,  Kentucky,  back 
in  the  forties.  It  was  abandoned  for  the  same  reason.  We  understand  that 
Blackburn  College  is  on  this  basis  of  self-help  through  manual  labor,  but  is 
assisted  by  state  aid. 

The  boarding  of  the  pupils  was  a  problem  at  Old  Hanover.  The  first 
Academy  was  an  old  log  weaving  room  cleared  by  Dr.  Crowe,  into  which  he 
gathered  six  boys.  Three  became  ministers  and  three  of  them  doctors.  As  the 
number  of  pupils  grew  the  families  in  the  village  agreed  to  take  them  in  to 
board  at  75  cents  a  week,  which  hardly  paid  the  wear  and  tear  on  the  furnit- 
ure, so  they  complained  later  on.  Judge  Dunn  then  came  to  the  rescue  by  prom- 
ising to  lay  out  the  village  lots  and  induce  good  families  to  move  to  Hanover 
with  a  view  of  boarding  the  pupils.  This  was  done  and  has  ever  since  been 
customary  until  the  modern  dormitory  and  fraternity  house  proposition  superseded 
it  in   great  measure. 

OLD-TIME  COMMUNION  MEETINGS 

With  reference  to  Dr.  Crowe's  pastoral  labors,  be  it  said  that  a  century  ago  a 
group  of  churches  like  Hanover,  Vernon  and  other  points  would  unite  in  turn 
for  the  sacramental  service  of  several  days,  which  was  celebrated  every  fall 
and  spring,  and  was  regarded  as  a  great  season  of  grace.  The  pioneer  people 
went  back  home  greatly  strengthened  and  built  up  to  endure  the  hardship 
and  privation  of  their  lives  until  the  next  season  came  round.  Two  or  three 
ministers  were  generally  on   the  ground   and   frequently  a   revival   would   result. 

In  those  days  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri  united  in  one  synod  and  in 
October  1829  that  body  met  in  Shoal  Creek,  forty  miles  from  St.  Louis.  The 
members  of  the  Madison  and  Salem  Presbyteries,  which  had  by  that  time 
been  formed  out  of  the  Old  Louisville  Presbytery,  met  at  the  Vincennes  church 
the  Sabbath  preceding  and  delighted  themselves  in  a  season  of  grace.  Then  in  a 
cavalcade  of  fifteen  ministers  and  elders  horseback  they  moved  westward  through 
the  prairie  and  woodland.  The  boundless  prairie  seemed  like  an  ocean  before 
them,  with  clumps  of  trees  here  and  there  like  islands.  They  would  often 
stop  at  one  cabin  and  pile  into  one  room  about  the  fireplace,  using  their 
saddles  for  pillows  and  their  blankets  for  covering.  The  family  usually  stayed 
in   an   outhouse. 

RAISING  MONEY  FOR  OLD  HANOVER 

On  December  6,  1830,  Dr.  Crowe  set  out  for  the  East  to  get  funds  to 
rebuild  a  brick  house  built  by  community  labor  for  the  college,  bur  which 
caught  fire,  unfinished,  one  day  when  some  children  went  in  while  the  workmen 
were  away  at  dinner.  Setting  fire  to  some  shavings,  the  children  uncon- 
sciously brought  desolation.  The  description  of  this  journey  and  mission  of 
Dr.   Crowe  was  one  of  the  most  impressive   given   by   Dr.    Ballard.      He   met   with 


28  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

no  success  in  Philadelphia  because  of  business  depression.  He  went  to  Princeton 
and  New  York  City  and  was  handed  politely  from  place  to  place  to  get  rid 
of  his  importunities.  From  Albany  to  Troy,  New  York,  he  traveled,  with 
many  a  heart-breaking  experience  and  finally  returned  home  with  what  he  had 
picked  up,  $3,000  and  100  volumes.  The  students  were  rail-splitters  and 
cut  cord  wood  and  were  called  the  school  of  the  prophets  at  the  outset;  but  they 
became  proficient  in  burning  brick  and  gradually,  despite  fire  and  tornado,  the  col- 
lege  buildings   appeared. 

The  Oldham  county.  Kentucky  students  at  Hanover  were  as  follows  in 
Dr.  Crowe's  time:  Milo  Adams,  1833;  Henry  G.  Duerson,  1834;  James  A. 
Curry,  1835;  Robert  T.  Edmondson,  George  Givens,  James  D.  Adams,  Robert 
Foster,  Richard  Wilhoyte.  Benjamin  H.  Benjamin,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  a  popu- 
lar  student   was   drowned   in    the   river   near   Hanover   July    2,    183  9. 

MURDER   OF   PROF.    BUTLER 

William  G.  Butler,  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Indiana,  in  1823,  was  in 
Hanover  Preparatory  in  1841-42.  He  taught  the  Academy  in  Vernon,  and 
Dr.  Ditzler  of  Oldham  county  told  us  that  he  taught  school  in  the  old  log 
school  house  near  Goshen,  Kentucky,  on  the  farm  of  John  C.  Pierce.  This 
Butler  graduated  at  Hanover  in  1846  and  afterwards  became  superintendent 
of  the  Louisville  High  School.  He  was  murdered  in  185  3  by  Matt  Ward,  of 
Louisville  for  whipping  Ward's  younger  brother.  It  was  a  brutal  murder 
but  Ward's  family  and  money  and  influence  got  him  a  vigorous  defense  and 
he  was  cleared.  Such  are  the  local  memories  and  traditions  brought  to  light 
by  the  old  centennial  at  Vernon  and  Goshen  churches.  People  at  Vernon  said 
that  Dr.  Ballard's  address  on  John  Finley  Crowe  was  like  they  imagine 
it  will  be  to  meet  these  heroes  of  the  cross  in  the  heavenly  land. 


George    Grey    Barnard    and    his    first    great    masterpiece 
"Two    Natures    Struggling    Within    Me." 


CHAPTER  VI 


•U*   ^>xt^itml   ®t  SUI    Xitnhuki&mm 


g\  T  is  generally  conceded  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  greatest  of  all 
jm  VJ  Kentuckians,  and  the  most  typical  of  all  Americans.  He  looms  tall 
X^,_,^X  and    sombre    and    sublime    on    the    human    landscape,    yet    illuminated 

and  glorified  with  a  melancholy  humor  like  the  subdued  sunlight 
of  Indian  summer  days.  Ida  M.  Tarbell  in  her  latest  book  on  Lincoln  intimates 
that  Mary  Todd,  his  wife,  occasionally  twitted  him  on  his  scrub  stock  ancestry 
in  comparison  with  her  own  blue  blood  lineage;  and,  really,  most  Southern 
people  think  of  Lincoln  as  a  sort  of  Corncracker  scrub  and  a  Southern  Indiana 
barbarian  or  backwoodsman.  His  proverbial  love  for  the  common  people 
and  the  poor  sets  him  down  as  a  product  of  the  so-called  lower  classes  in  spite 
of  all  that  Miss  Tarbell  and  other  biographers  have  said  and  done  to  make  his 
parentage  middle  class  and  respectable  in  the  eyes  of  our  "natural  and  social 
superiors,"  the  highborn  rulers  of  this  "land  of  the  free  and  home  of  the  slave." 
In  fact  it  would  do  us  all  a  world  of  good  to  get  down  to  the  mudsills  of  human 
society  once  more  with  Lincoln  and  to  rub  shoulders  with  the  real  dirt  farmers 
and  common  laborers   who   constitute  the  subsoil   of  social   America   today. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  very  amusing  to  note  how  the  best  Southern 
Indiana  people  regard  the  present-time  Kentucky  type  of  emigrant,  the  tobacco 
growing  tenant  who  moves  over  there  to  find  cheaper  land  and  less  severe  com- 
petition in  the  battle  for  daily  bread.  A  humorist  druggist  in  a  Southern 
Indiana  town  said  to  a  traveling  salesman  not  long  ago  that  these  new-comers 
from  Kentucky  were  ruining  the  Methodist  church  and  the  Democratic  party 
of  that  section  by  purchasing  their  land  and  enabling  the  middle  class  Methodist 
farmer  Democrats  to  move  elsewhere!  And  even  today  the  amazing  human 
sympathies  of  Lincoln  identify  him  traditionally  with  these  "Nogood  Naza- 
renes"  of  the  Old  Home  State.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Abe's  shoulders  are  broad 
and   he   can   stand    it ! 

But  on  Tuesday  night,  December  9,  in  the  year  of  1924.  we  journeyed 
to  Madison,  Ind..  to  spend  the  evening  and  have  a  heart  to  heart  talk  with 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  R.  Barnard,  father  of  the  greatest  American  sculptor.  George  Grey 
Barnard,  creator  of  the  massive  and  elemental  Lincoln  who  stands  near  the 
Louisville  Pree  Public  Library.  We  wanted  to  trace  back  the  stream  of  Pres- 
byterian parentage  that  fathered  the  one  sculptor  on  our  continent  who  con- 
ceived Abraham  Lincoln  aright.  We  wanted  to  look  in  the  face  and  into  the 
soul  of  the  mighty  man  of  God  from  whose  loins  sprang  one  of  the  noblest 
artists  of  all  time,  one  of  the  elect  few  not  born  to  die  who  dug  back  to  the 
root  original  of  the  elemental  man  1  incoln  and  recreated  him  for  the  gaze 
and    wonder   of   all    generations. 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  31 

In  an  old-fashioned  vine-covered  brick  home,  two  or  three  avenues  above 
the  Ohio,  lives  Doctor  Barnard,  the  vital  and  deep-visioned  pastor  and  chaplain 
of  the  Madison  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  still  pondering  human  problems  and 
preaching  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  at  eighty-six  years  of  age.  He  is  a  live 
and  virile  little  man  with  a  most  impressive  head  and  countenance  crowned  and 
adorned  with  curly  white  hair  and  beard.  He  greets  you  with  a  hearty  handclasp 
and  seats  you  facing  him  in  his  cozy  library,  the  walls  of  which  are  crowded 
with  books  and  with  photographs  of  his  famous  son's  sculpture  creations,  amid 
which  Lincoln  towers  dominant  and  dynamic. 

In  Barnard's  Lincoln  the  elemental  man,  not  the  cave  man,  but  the  basic 
human  being,  "made  in  the  image  of  God,"  was  bodied  forth — with  the 
muscle  and  sinew  of  might  and  mastery  but  also  with  the  soul  and  spirit 
of  a  great,  compassionate  humanity.  In  all  his  artistic  conceptions  as  a 
sculptor  Barnard  sought  after  the  original  thought  and  idea  back  of  life  and  its 
mysterious  forces.  The  group  of  Labor  and  Love  set  forth  the  ultimate  goal 
of  human  existence  with  a  joyful  outcome.  The  group  of  Labor  and  Sorrow 
showed  the  Prodigal  wasting  his  effort  and  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth  not — 
seeking  in  sinful  pleasure  and  dissipation  the  happiness  and  thrill  that  he  never 
really  found,  and  coming  back  at  last  bare  and  abased,  pitiful  and  repentant,  to 
the   feet   of   Forgiving   Fatherhood. 

Now  it  must  be  evident  that  the  parental  lineage  of  such  tremendous  human 
themes  is  worthy  of  our  closest  attention;  and  with  breathless  interest  we  ques- 
tioned Doctor  Barnard  to  tell  us  something  of  his  own  remarkable  life  and 
ministry. 

He  was  born  up  in  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Tuscarora,  Pennsylvania, 
of  Scotch  Presbyterian  people,  who  were  like  the  Tennent  family  of  Colonial 
times,  founders  of  the  early  Log  College  system  of  education  and  evangelism 
in  our  popular  life.  Doctor  Barnard's  father  was  a  miller,  a  keen-minded 
Scotchman  who  thought  and  spoke  the  truth  and  controlled  his  emotions  and 
sensibilities.  He  was  not  a  professional  religionist  nor  a  doctrinal  disputant. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  resembled  Lincoln  somewhat  in  holding  aloof  from 
the  controversy  of  creeds,  suspending  judgment  so  to  speak,  till  all  the  evidence 
was  justly  weighed.  Of  course  that  attitude  was  intolerable  to  the  man 
of  action  in  such  matters;  but  Doctor  Barnard  remarked  that  it  was  the  deep 
religious  consciousness  of  Abraham  Lincoln  beneath  all  the  requirements  and 
conformities  to  creed  and  ceremony,  the  recognition  and  acknowledgement  of 
God  in  his  own  soul  and  the  world  of  Nature  and  Man  around  him,  that  really 
counted.  The  man  Lincoln  truly  lived  and  moved,  labored  and  loved  his  fellows 
in  the  light  of  that  abiding,  almost  fateful  consciousness  of  and  confidence  in  the 
Unseen  God  of  his  being  and  destiny. 

Close  akin  to  that  realization,  in  Doctor  Barnard's  opinion,  lies  the  belief 
in  the  overruling  providence  of  God  in  our  lives  and  the  lives  of  others — 
controlling  and  directing  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of  our  lives  toward 
some  ultimate  good  or  goal.  "Even  though  he  slay  me.  yet  will  I  trust  in 
Him" — choosing  our  own  way  but  confident  that  He  directs  our  steps;  laying 
our  lives  and  our  all  upon  the  altar  of  sacrifice  and  service,  or  even  of  mar- 
tyrdom, as  Lincoln  did.  How  wonderfully  in  the  life  of  Lincoln  was  this 
idea    demonstrated    and    exemplified,    even    in    his    cruel    and    sudden    assassination! 


32  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Even  "the  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off"  worked  out  "a  far  exceeding 
weight  of  glory"  that  has  long  since  "justified  the  ways  of  God  to  men." 
It  was  the  fellowship  of  such  struggle  and  suffering  and  tragedy  that  lifted 
Lincoln  from  the  humble  level  of  a  seeming  backwoods  buffoon  and  barbarian 
to  the  sublimest  heights  of  human   martyrdom   and   love  and   adoration. 

But,  as  in  the  life  of  Lincoln,  the  mother  was  the  dominant  influence 
and  personality,  so  in  the  life  of  the  great  sculptor's  father  the  mother  was 
the  supreme  factor  in  the  family  life.  She  suffered  a  great  deal  from  sickness 
in  her  life  and  used  to  lie  upon  her  bed  or  couch  and  read  the  Bible  aloud 
as  they  did  in  those  days.  The  Senior  Boy  Barnard  played  about  as  a  child 
and  when  his  mother  read  the  story  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  of  Joseph  and  his 
brethren,  of  Moses  and  Samuel  and  David  and  Jonathan,  it  arrested  his  attention 
and  gripped  his  imagination.  This  mother  of  long-ago  gave  her  boy  to  God 
in  his  infancy;  and  her  prayers  were  always  like  Hannah's  for  her  son  Samuel — 
to  be  a  prophet  of  the  Lord.  He  went  to  school  as  a  child  from  five  to 
twelve  at  the  little  mountain  school  house.  Then  one  day  an  old  Elder  by  the 
name  of  Patterson — who  was  one  of  a  group  of  godly  men  in  those  mountains 
with  an  ideal  of  education  for  promising  youth — asked  the  boy  Barnard  how 
he  would  like  to  go  to  the  academy  as  a  beneficiary  of  this  man  Patterson's 
scholarship?  The  boy  answered  with  beaming  countenance  that  he  would 
like  it  the  best  in  the  world.  And  thus  he  entered  on  the  course  of  education 
and  training  that  did  for  him  and  his  generation  precisely  what  the  Old  Log 
College  of  the  Tennent  familv  did  for  the  promising  ministerial  timber  of  Colo- 
nial  times  in   Old   Pennsylvania. 

But  there  was  a  revival  meeting  under  way  at  the  Academy  that  was 
iweeping  everything  before  it.  An  evangelist  who  had  been  a  reporter  and 
newspaper  man  of  those  times  was  wonderfully  converted  and  became  a  power 
in  the  pulpit  with  young  men.  His  name  was  McClain  or  McLane  and  he 
had  been  a  home  missionary  in  the  state  of  Iowa.  He  was  an  orator  of  the 
earlier  generation  of  natural-born  public  speakers — "a  flame  of  fire,"  as 
was  said  of  James  Otis.  He  had  brought  the  whole  student  body  under  con- 
viction  of   sin    and   earnest   seeking   after   regeneration. 

The  academy  was  a  brick  building  with  a  large  frame  addition,  much 
like  the  Tennent  "Log  College,"  and  when  visited  by  fire  later  on,  the  basement 
of  the  church  was  used  for  class  room  work.  In  this  revival  meeting  nearly 
every  student  had  come  into  the  glad  new  life  of  salvation  but  young  Barnard 
and  his  room  mate — a  tall,  slender  fellow  by  the  name  of  Webster.  Barnard 
was  not  exactly  dodging  the  gospel;  but  he  usually  went  home  after  school 
and  had  not  been  present  to  fall  under  the  influence  of  the  evangelist  and  the 
message  of  saving  grace.  Besides,  at  that  time  his  mind  was  intent  on  studying 
medicine  and  his  ideal  was  the  positive  old  Scotch  physician  who  "T"«s  by 
no  means  a  religious  man;  and  of  course  Barnard  was  not  interested.  But  one 
of  his  teachers  kept  insisting  that  he  stay  over  at  least  one  night  and  hear 
McLane;  and  out  of  deference  to  his  teacher  friend,  Barnard,  near  the  close  of  the 
revival  services,  put  it  up  to  Webster  to  attend  just  that  time.  Webster  answered. 
"Well,    we   will    go   to   the   meeting   tonight." 

When  they  got  there  they  saw  300  or  400  students  and  other  people 
from    the    surrounding    country    packed    into    the    assembly    room    of    the    Academy 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  3  3 

church.  The  evangelist  took  as  his  text,  "He  is  able  to  save  unto  the  utter- 
most all  them  who  come  unto  God  by  Him."  Gradually,  almost  unconsciously, 
the  gospel  message  penetrated  the  mind  and  gripped  the  will-power  of  young 
Barnard  and  Webster.  The  evangelist  was  an  absolutely  sincere,  consecrated 
man,  and  he  swept  his  hand  over  the  heart-strings  of  his  hearers  with  a  touch 
that  caused  "chords  that  were  broken  to  vibrate  once  more."  It  was  tho  amaz- 
ing grace  of  God  that  seized  upon  the  spirits  of  these  two  young  men  and 
brought  them  under  deep  and  genuine  conviction  of  sin  and  yearning  after  sal- 
vation. 

When  the  invitation  was  given  one  after  another  of  their  companions 
who  yet  lingered  arose  and  went  forward  to  the  altar  or  inquiry  corner.  Barnard 
turned  to  take  his  hat  to  go  outside  and  cast  an  inquiring  glance  at  Webster.  There 
he  sat,  electrified,  the  tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks.  Webster  picked  up  his 
hat  also,  and  Barnard  intended  following  him  outdoors;  but  instead  Webster 
turned  up  the  aisle  toward  the  altar  with  the  workers  and  inquirers.  Bar- 
nard involuntarily  followed  Webster  and  a  great  load  rested  heavily  upon  his 
soul.  He  felt  the  unbearableness  of  his  sinful  condition  and  sought  release 
for  the  space  of  perhaps  forty-eight  hours,  when  like  the  wind  that  bloweth 
where  it  listeth  (thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it 
cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth)  the  Spirit  of  God  lifted  the  intolerable  burden 
and  saved  Barnard  and  Webster  unto  the  uttermost. 

So  complete  was  Barnard's  experience  of  the  joy  of  salvation  that  he 
decided  then  and  there  to  give  his  life  to  the  gospel  ministry  and  forthwith 
went  to  tell  the  old  Scotch  doctor  that  he  must  now  give  up  the  study  of 
medicine.  He  got  a  good  round  cursing  for  this  announcement  and  for  break- 
ing his  purpose  and  promise  to  be  a  physician.  But  Barnard  bore  this  with 
patience  and  the  old  doctor  afterward  sat  under  the  preaching  of  young  Bar- 
nard while  he  was  preparing  for  the  ministry ;  and  in  due  season  Barnard 
saw  him  also  happily  converted  and  elected  a  ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
church.  Thus,  as  in  the  case  of  many  others  whom  we  have  witnessed  won- 
derfully regenerated  and  consecrated  to  a  life  of  service  utterly  contrary,  perhaps, 
to  first  intentions,  young  Barnard  was  turned  into  the  course  and  career  that 
the  Providence  of  God  prepared  him  for.  We  shall  follow  his  story  into  the 
future. 


CHAPTER  VII 


<X- he  3"alhcr   of  ^mrrmvs    flirt  air  &1    ^culxiiot 


f^^^^^  HE  Kentucky  philanthropist,  Bernheim,  who  gave  the  replica  of  George 
■    1"^  Grey   Barnard's   Lincoln   to   the   city   of   Louisville,    lost   his    wife   not 

%J  J  long   ago   and   commissioned   the   great   sculptor   to   prepare   a    suitable 

memorial  of  her.  About  Thanksgiving  of  the  year  1924.  he  was 
on  his  way  to  Louisville  to  see  Mr.  Bernheim,  and  also  to  Madison.  Indiana, 
to    see    his    father.  When    he    reached    Pittsburg    he    was    taken     suddenly    ill 

and  was  advised  by  his  physician  to  return  to  New  York,  which  he  did. 
The  Bernheim  Memorial  was  expected  to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  im- 
pressive ever  set  up  in  Kentucky.  The  sculptor  has  not  yet  permitted  any  one 
to  see  it,  or  any  description  of  it  to  be  given  to  the  press;  but  some  of  his 
noblest  conceptions  have  been   on   the   theme   of  Death. 

Some  time  ago  (it  is  said)  there  was  an  old  friend  of  the  Barnards  at 
Muscatine,  Iowa,  where  they  lived,  who  had  lost  her  husband,  and  she  wanted  a 
memorial  expressive  of  her  love.  The  sculptor  worked  on  it  some  time.  To 
him  the  old  mediaeval  conception  of  Death  as  a  shrouded  skeleton  with  a  scythe. 
a  vision  of  terror  and  horror,  was  a  false  conception.  Barnard  again  conceived 
Death  as  the  Greeks  did  and  made  the  figure  of  a  lovely  maiden  with  rose 
petals  falling  at  her  feet — leading  onward  and  upward  from  one  form  and  stage 
of  life  to  another.  She  represents  Eternal  Youth,  Immortality,  which  is  the 
true  conception. 

THE    SCULPTOR'S    VISION   OF   LOVE    AND   DEATH 

To  the  soul  of  Barnard  Beauty  was  always  akin  to  Holiness.  When  he 
looks  on  the  human  form  divine  there  is  nothing  lustful  or  unclean,  but  the 
pure  sensitiveness  to  perfect  loveliness;  and  likewise,  in  his  conception  of 
Death,  the  old  horrors  and  revulsions  of  fear  were  forgotten  in  the  dream 
of  Eternal  Youth.  When  his  mother  died  a  few  years  ago  there  came  to  him  an 
even  greater  vision  of  the  New  Testament  teaching;  and  he  said  to  his  father 
one  day  in  a  letter  that  he  had  a  vision  of  eternal  things  and  of  the  Life 
Beyond;   and  was  satisfied,  and  even  comforted,   in  the  mother's  decease. 

The  son  of  the  man  who  died  in  Muscatine.  Iowa,  was  an  editor  and 
came  to  Chicago  and  became  a  manufacturer  of  printing  press  material  and 
grew  very  wealthy.  He  played  an  immense  part  in  Barnard's  future;  and  doubt- 
less it  was  the  memorial  to  this  man's  father  that  gave  Barnard  his  noble  vision 
of  victory  over  death. 

But  in  June  of  the  year  19  24  on  our  visit  to  the  sculptor's  father  in 
Madison,  Ind.,  he  showed  us  a  picture  of  the  mother  in  her  younger  girlhood 
when    he    first    loved    and    married    her.       It    was    the    face    of    girlhood    sensitive    to 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS 


35 


beauty  and  sweet  sound.  She  was  something  of  an  artist  and  musician  herself,  and 
she  gave  to  the  son  his  dreams  of  beauty  and  loveliness,  while  the  father  stamped 
upon  him  his  powers  of  thought,  his  noble  conception  of  truth. 


REV 


R.    BARNARD,     D.     D. 


Rev.  J.  R.  Barnard,  D.  D.,  of  Madison,  Ind.,  on  a  visit  to  his  first  pas- 
torate of  Tyrone,  Pa.,  in  the  suimmer  of  1924.  He  is  standing1  with  the 
Rev.  Francis  Shunk  Downs,  then  pastor.  Dr.  Barnard  was  a  strong:  man  of 
God  in  the  pulpit  in  Civil  "War  days.  He  wias  always  a  patriot  but  never 
a  partisan.  His  was  supremely  the  ministry  of  consolation  and  faith  in  the 
dark  hoairs  of  battle  and  bereavement,  of  invasion  and  suspense.  Being- 
drafted  into  the  Union  service,  he  called  upon  Governor  Curtain,  by  apecial 
agreement,  for  ,a  chaplaincy.  But  the  Governor  ordered  Dr.  Barnard  to 
remain  in  his  pulpit  and  among  his  people  at  home  to  sustain  the  spiritual 
morale  through  such  crises  as  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  He  was  called  to 
the  front  on  one  notable  occasion  of  triumph  to  participate  in  the  patriotic 
exercises.  Dr.  Barnard  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the  American 
ministry.  He  was  the  close  friend  of  Edward  Bggleston  and  performed  the 
ceremony    of    his    second    marriage    at    Madison. 


THE   MOTHER  MEMORIES   OF   A   GREAT   FATHER 

In  this  connection,  it  is  timely  to  relate  what  Dr.  Barnard,  the  father 
told  us  of  his  own  mother  memories,  since  they  disclose  an  ideal  of  love  and 
devotion  that  most  truly  descended  to  the  great  sculptor.  Dr.  Barnard's  father 
and  mother  lived  on  a  little  ancestral  farm  of  sixty  acres  back  in  Pennsyl- 
vania during  his  boyhood.  The  farm  was  mortgaged  and  the  mother  went  to 
Elder  Patterson,  who  educated  her  son,  and  asked  him  to  trust  her  with  the  place 
for  her  lifetime,  which  he  did.  Thus  as  long  as  she  lived  she  held  her  little 
family  together;  but  at  her  death  the  farm  passed  out  of  the  family  possession  for- 


36 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


ever.      She   was   one   of   the   great   mothers   of   the   world,    and   left    to   each   of   her 
children  the  legacy  of  an   immortal   love  memory. 

Dr.  Barnard  said  that  in  his  earliest  ministry  the  physical  horror  of  death 
and  the  grave  appalled  him.  He  dreaded  the  face  of  Death,  the  Great  Destroyer, 
though  he  felt  the  confidence  and  fortitude  of  faith  to  meet  it.  But  when  word 
came  that  his  own  dear  mother  was  passing  away,  he  met  Death  at  close  range. 
It  was  on  a  cold,  dreary,  March  day;  and  his  mother  was  dead  when  he  reached 
home  after  the  fatal  summons.  It  chanced  that  the  pastor  on  the  charge,  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Hamilton,  who  was  expected  to  preach  the  funeral  discourse,  was 
delayed  from  arriving  at  two  o'clock,  the  hour  set  for  the  service.  The  roads 
were  very  muddy  and  hard  to  cover;  and  the  time  passed  painfully  until  three 
o'clock,  when  young  Barnard  saw  that  night  would  fall  before  the  funeral 
and  burial  would  be  over.  The  little  cemetery  was  distant  some  two  and  a 
half  miles  from   the  home. 


Birthplace     cufl     George     Grey     Barnard,      Presbyterian 
Manse,    Bellefonte,    Pennsylvania. 


PREACHING  HIS  OWN  MOTHER'S  FUNERAL 

The  conviction  that  he  ought  to  rise  up  and  conduct  the  service  himself 
in  memory  of  such  a  mother,  who  had  meant  so  much  to  him.  seized  him 
with  overpowering  persuasion,  and  he  at  last  summoned  courage  and  self-control 
to  do  what  he  had  never  dreamed  of  attempting  until  that  hour  and  emergency. 
Thus  he  preached  his  own  mother's  funeral  and  said  those  things  which  a  loving 
son  could  say  about  her.  Strange  to  relate,  the  former  fear  and  horror  deserted 
him  and  he  was  enabled  to  master  a  state  of  mind  that  had  hitherto  deeply 
depressed   him. 

After  that  trying  experience  he  faced  Death  again  in  the  tragical  passing  of 
two  lovely  children  of  his  own.  One,  a  little  babe  of  four  months,  who  was 
taken  with  the  wife  and  mother  one  day  in  a  buggy  to  a  distant  point  and  lifted 
out  of  the  mother's  arms  by  the  father  as  they  got  out.  The  wind,  cold  and 
raw.  blew  the  covering  aside  and  struck  the  little  fellow  full  in  the  face  and 
chest.      He  flinched  as  though  he  had  been  struck  a  blow  and  in   forty-eight  hours 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  3  7 

he  was  dead.      Dr.   Barnard  was  terribly  grief-stricken,   blaming  himself,   but   God 
gave  to  the  mother  and  father  a   measure  of  peculiar  consolation. 

Sometime  later  a  still  more  grievous  blow  befell  them.  Another  child 
of  about  two  and  a  half  years  died  of  an  epidemic  that  carried  away  thirty-six 
children  in  the  town.  The  mother  could  not  bear  to  see  the  child  die  and  the 
father  and  nurse  watched  its  little  life  ebb  away.  Its  great  blue  eyes  looked  up 
as  if  in  the  face  of  God  and  they  buried  it  away  with  the  eyes  unclosed.  Dr. 
Barnard  said  that  somehow  he  was  enabled  to  find  the  Heart  of  an  Infinite 
Compassionate  Father  even  in  these  terrible  losses.  The  wife  and  mother  was,  of 
course,  well-nigh  inconsolable,  but  she  bore  her  grief  with  equal  heroism  and 
Dr.  Barnard  said  that  his  own  contact  with  Death,  in  the  case  of  his  children 
and  mother,  solaced  and  supported  him  even  down  to  the  death  of  his  own 
beloved    companion    a    few    years    ago. 

THE  LOVE  SIDE  OF  CALVINISM 
In  this  connection  also  we  were  very  anxious  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of 
the  great  human  compassion  that  characterizes  the  son's  sublime  work  in  stone  and 
marble  and  bronze.  We  asked  Dr.  Barnard  to  tell  us  something  of  his  own 
vision  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  mankind  as  a  spiritual  realization  and  experi- 
ence. He  answered  that  he  went  to  Princeton  Seminary,  New  Jersey,  just  prior 
to  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  and  studied  theology  at  the  feet  of  that  great 
Presbyterian  teacher,  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  who  was  also  the  instructor  of  our  father 
a  few  years  after  Dr.  Barnard  graduated.  Dr.  Barnard  combined  in  himself  the 
most  perfect  mastery  of  theology  and  the  most  gracious  spirit  of  the  gospel 
drawn  directly  from  this  noble  instructor.  Dr.  Hodge  lived  and  taught  a  love 
to  God  and  love  to  mankind  that  embodied  the  very  essence  of  religion.  He 
took  his  turn  in  the  chapel  talks  Sunday  afternoons  and  as  he  expounded  the 
mysteries  of  grace  to  his  students  the  tears  flowed  down  his  cheeks  in  a  manner 
that  moved  every  auditor  with  the  power  of  his  sincerity  and  undoubted  devotion. 
Dr.  Barnard  insisted  that  even  out  of  the  heart  of  Calvinistic  theology,  as  taught 
by  Dr.  Hodge,   there  flowed  a  stream  of  love  and  mercy  and  human  kindness. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


ft    N  MAY    19,    1920,   it  was  stated   in   the  morning  Courier- Journal   that 

fm  VJ          Mr.    and   Mrs.    J.    W.    Bernheim,    of   Louisville,    would   donate   to   the 

V^    J         city    a    bronze    reproduction    of    George    Grey    Barnard's    Lincoln    and 

that    the    sculptor    would    visit    Louisville    to    select    the    site.       The 

proposal   of   the  philanthropist   and   his    wife   was   made   at    a   dinner    given    to   the 

Board   of  Education   at   the   Pendennis  Club.      Mr.    Frank   N.    Hartwell    represented 

the   Bernheims. 

Mr.  Bernheim  presented  the  statue  with  the  hope  that  future  generations 
might  be  inspired  by  the  memory  of  Lincoln.  He  said  that  the  career  of  the 
great,  loyal  rail-splitter  had  stood  out  before  him  as  an  incentive  and  encourage- 
ment ever  since  he  came  to  America  as  a  poor  emigrant  boy  seeking  the  boon 
of  human  freedom.  He  hoped  the  same  inspiration  might  be  passed  on  to  every 
other  emigrant  boy  whose  longing  eyes  were  turned  toward  our  shores.  The  gift 
was   graciously   and   gratefully   accepted   by   the   Board. 

The  statue,  as  it  stands  in  place  near  the  Free  Public  Library  is  fourteen 
feet  high,  without  beard,  as  when  Lincoln  debated  with  Douglas  in  1858.  It  was 
first  thought  wise  to  set  up  the  statue  in  front  of  the  Louisville  Male  High  School 
but  the  decision  was  postponed  until  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Barnard.  This  great 
work  of  art  and  humanity  has  been  reproduced  and  erected  in  London.  Paris. 
Cincinnati  and  even  in  China.  The  sculptor  said  that  Lincoln  was  a  hero  in 
every  civilized  land.  Even  the  Orientals  look  and  long  for  a  Great  Emancipator 
like  him,  and  the  school  children  of  China  carry  banners  with  his  name  upon 
them.      Russia  asked  for  a  statue  of  Lincoln  like  that  in  Louisville. 

Yet  this  tremendously  realistic  work  of  art  called  down  upon  the  sculptor's 
head  a  storm  of  protest  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  original  was  unveiled 
and  dedicated  several  years  ago  in  Manchester,  England.  The  critics  said  that 
Mr.  Barnard  stressed  crudity  and  roughness  as  outstanding  characteristics  of 
Lincoln,  while  entirely  failing  to  portray  the  idealism  of  the  great  Kentuckian 
and  Liberator.  Especially  did  the  critics  cavil  because  the  sculptor  selected  an 
uncouth    mountaineer    as    his    model    in    executing    the    work. 

The  Louisville  Herald  came  to  the  front  with  a  vigorous  defense  of  the 
statue  as  a  Lincoln  portrayal  and  interpretation:  "Superbly  and  defiantly  this 
is  Lincoln,  the  Kentuckian,  gaunt  and  of  giant  stature,  the  man  of  a  career  stormy 
and  troubled,  holding  the  destinies  of  a  nation  in  his  grasp,  steadfast  and  un- 
afraid." 

When  Mr.  Barnard  arrived  in  Louisville  he  said  that  the  controversy  over 
the    statue    started    about    the    clothes    of    Lincoln.       He    put    the    soul    of    Lincoln 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  3  9 

in  his  wearing  apparel.  He  studied  Lincoln's  face  for  two  years  as  no  other 
human  had  ever  done;  and  he  put  some  wrinkles  of  that  sad  and  homely  counten- 
ance into  the  trousers  and  coat  of  the  man.  Then  the  academicians,  as  Mr. 
Barnard  called  his  critics,  hurled  their  scorn  at  his  mighty  Emancipator.  They 
thought  the  sculptor  himself  was  done  for;  that  he  had  ruined  his  reputation  with 
the  present  generation  and  with  posterity.  But  Barnard  only  laughed  at  his 
critics.  He  told  how  President  Roosevelt  came  to  his  studio  one  day  and  de- 
manded to  see  the  Lincoln  statue.  Left  alone  in  the  room  with  it.  Lincoln 
became  almost  alive  to  Roosevelt  and  Barnard  heard  Roosevelt  say,  "At  last  we 
have  the  real  Lincoln  of  the  Lincoln  and  Douglas  debates." 

In  an  interview  while  in  Louisville  Mr.  Barnard  told  how  he  came  to 
create  his  famous  Lincoln.  He  said  his  mother  was  born  in  Springfield,  111., 
next  door  to  Lincoln's  home  and  from  his  childhood  up  it  had  been  his  ambition 
and  dream  to  model  the  mighty  Liberator.  He  said  he  believed  his  Lincoln 
was  closer  to  nature  than  others  because  he  was  himself  a  naturalist  before  he 
became  a  sculptor.  At  the  age  of  six  years  Barnard  studied  shells  with  an  old 
sea  captain.  He  next  stuffed  birds  and  sketched  and  modeled  them.  So  when 
he  came  to  create  his  Lincoln  he  wanted  to  visualize  Lincoln  the  man,  not  Lin- 
coln the  President.      That  is  another  reason  why  the  work  is  so  misunderstood. 

The  time  of  Mr.  Barnard's  visit  to  Louisville  was  in  June,  19  20.  He  talked 
in  a  free  and  fascinating  way  about  his  love  for  nature  and  humanity,  and  he 
bubbled  over  with  good  humor.  He  said  that  Kentucky  was  to  him  the  land  of 
Daniel  Boone,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Kentucky  Cardinal.  He  was  the  guest 
of  the  Bernheims  at  their  Anchorage  home:  and  he  brought  along  with  him  his 
little  daughter,  Barbara,  "to  take  care  of  him.  keep  his  tie  straight,  see  that 
he  did  not  miss  trains  and  that  he  did  not  misbehave."  He  lunched  at  the 
Seelbach   and   went   on   a   tour  of   the  city    to   select   a   site. 

Newspaper  men  remarked  about  Barnard  that  the  big  thing  was  his  interest 
in  human  life  and  the  life  of  all  nature  around  him.  This  interest  showed  in 
every  stroke  of  his  art.  He  knew  the  soil  and  farming.  He  was  alive  to  Russia 
and  her  big  place  in  the  perspective  of  the  World  War.  He  understood  history 
from  an  economic  and  social  point  of  view.  He  had  abiding  faith  in  the  outcome 
of   world    events,    provided    men    had    vision    and    lived    up    to    it: 

"Oh,  yes,  I  have  faith  in  all  men.  There  is  good  even  in  the  murderer 
and  we  may  acquire  much  from  the  cobbler  and  the  blacksmith.  Kentucky  here 
is  full  of  material  for  the  artist  still  untouched.  She  is  waiting  for  the  sculptor 
and  painter  more  than  any  state  in  our  country,  I  believe.  Twenty  years  ago 
my  friend  James  Lane  Allen  wanted  me  to  make  a  monument  illustrating  the 
great  history  of  Kentucky;  and  some  day  I  may  do  so.  but  not  now.  In  future 
we  must  go  to  life  and  not  back  to  Greece  and  Rome  for  our  models.  The 
technique  of  the  ancient  masters  must  not  be  forgotten;  but  wc  must  go  out  into 
life  with   the  people   and   events   of   our   own    time." 

The  newspaper  men  said  that  the  religion  of  humanity  and  service  fairly 
effervesced  in  Mr.  Barnard's  conversation.  As  he  stood  before  a  beautiful  Kentucky 
tree  he  cried  out,  "Nature  is  so  marvelous  that  it  maddens  me.  As  a  boy  I 
wanted  to  own  a  tree,  but  it  seemed  far  out  of  my  reach,  like  the  stars  and  the 
milky  way.  But  after  making  some  money  I  bought  a  bit  of  land  and  early 
one    morning    went    out    to    see    my    tree.       I    told    the    tree    it    was    my    own,    root 


40 


FORERUNNERS  OF  EINCOLN 


and  branch.  The  tree  answered  that  it  was  not  my  own  at  all,  just  because  I 
had  the  power  to  cut  it  down  and  destroy  it;  for  then  it  would  be  dead  and 
would  belong  to  nobody.  The  tree  said  that  only  he  who  loved  it  and  reverenced 
it  and  protected  it   from   the  vandal   truly  possessed  it." 

The  newspaper  men  were  no  less  astonished  at  a  remark  the  sculptor  made 
about  the  races:  "No,  I  don't  care  for  the  races.  Years  ago  I  made  up  my 
mind  never  to  gamble  but  to  make  what  I  could  with  my  own  hands.  I  have 
had  many  opportunities  for  speculation  but  I  let  them  all  go."  Perhaps  the 
newspaper  men  missed  altogether  the  fundamental  loyalty  and  truth  in  the  great 
sculptor's  reverence  for  human  toil  and  his  hatred  of  anything  that  savored  of 
unscrupulous  advantage  and  unfair  dealing.  His  love  for  Lincoln  the  great 
Emancipator    of   human    toil    would    have    been    essentially    pretense    and    hypocrisy 


Interior  view  of  the  Old  First  Presbyiterian  Church.  Spring-fiedd,  Illinois 
where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  worshipped.  The  Lincoln  Pew  is  draped  and 
observed   half    way   down   the   aisle. 


if  he  had  thought  or  said  otherwise.  Not  that  he  was  in  any  sense  a  narrow- 
minded  Puritan,  crying  out  against  sport  and  beautiful  animals  and  the  excite- 
ment and  thrill  of  contest.  No,  it  was  the  sordid,  dishonest,  lecherous,  exploia- 
tion  of  it  all  that  he  abhorred. 

It  is  said  that  Barnard's  Lincoln  in  Cincinnati,  which  was  the  gift  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Taft  to  the  city,  was  a  very  notable  triumph  of  the  sculptor's 
conception  of  Lincoln  and  the  common  life.  Mr.  Robert  C.  Clowry,  at  one  time 
President  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  made  a  statement  that  he 
lived  in  Springfield.  111.,  before  the  Civil  War  and  knew  Lincoln  well  enough  to 
testify  sixty  years  after  that  Barnard's  statue  was  a  masterpiece  in  likeness  to 
the  original  and  in  workmanship."  This  statement  prefaced  the  little  book 
gotten    out    after    the   dedication    of    the    statue.       Barnard    received    his    commission 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  41 

in  December,  1910,  and  completed  the  work  early  in  1917.  It  was  first  put 
on  exhibition  in  the  grounds  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  City, 
and  afterward  removed  to  its  present  location  in  one  of  the  parks  of  Cincinnati, 
where  it  was  dedicated   with   memorable  ceremonies.    March    31,    1917. 

We  have  read  with  profound  interest  the  sculptor's  own  interpretation  of 
his  work,  published  after  the  Cincinnati  statue  was  unveiled:  "My  earliest 
recollections  are  of  my  grandfather's  talks  of  Douglas  and  Lincoln.  A  friend 
to  both,  he  often  told  stories  of  Douglas,  princely,  stately,  elegant  and  Lincoln 
rising  from  poverty  to  President.  This  left  but  one  image  in  my  childhood  mind, 
the  mighty  man  who  grew  from  out  the  soil  and  the  hardships  of  the  earth. 
He  who  had  within  him  that  indomitable  spirit,  that  great  call  and  followed  it 
straight  to  his  destiny." 

Mr.  Barnard  deeply  realized  also  the  tragic  youth  of  Lincoln  in  Southern 
Indiana,  for  he  makes  this  moving  reference  to  it:  "We  are  all  tools  to  the 
Creator,  bad  or  good.  Lincoln  was  chilled  in  all  the  streams  of  life,  to  make 
ready  the  tool  of  the  nation  and  mankind.  Many  have  stood  at  the  bedside 
of  their  dead  mothers,  but  few  at  seven  years  of  age  have  helped  to  make  the  coffin 
and  dig  the  grave  of  a  mother.  And  such  a  mother  as  Lincoln's  must  have  been 
made  greater  his  agony,  left  a  memory  so  vital  that  through  life  this  giant,  phys- 
ically  and   mentally,    'mothered'    his   neighbors,    his    State   and   his   country. 

"This  'man  of  all  men'  held  motherhood  within  him  as  great  in  its  strength 
and  gentle  spirit,  its  forgiveness  and  yearning,  as  the  wisdom  and  will  of  the 
manhood   within   him." 

Barnard  dug  down  to  fundamental  truth  and  reality  in  his  immortal  por- 
traiture and  here  he  hurled  infinite  scorn  at  the  untruth  and  insincerity  of  his 
shallow  critics:  "With  the  order  for  a  Lincoln,  my  work  began.  An  imaginary 
Lincoln  is  an  insult  to  the  American  people,  a  thwarting  of  democracy.  No 
imitation  tool  of  any  artist's  conception,  but  the  tool  God  and  Lincoln  made — 
Lincoln's  self — must  be  shown.  I  found  the  many  photographs  retouched  so 
that  all  form  had  been  obliterated.  This  fact  I  have  never  seen  in  print.  The 
eyes  and  mouth  carry  a  message,  but  the  rest  was  stippled  over,  to  prettify  this 
work  of  God,  by  the  photograhers  of  the  time.  Nearing  election,  they  feared 
his  ugly  lines  might  lose  him  the  Presidency.  So  the  lines  were  softened  down, 
softened  in  cloudy  shades  of  nothingness — this  man,  made  like  the  oak  trees 
and  granite  rocks.  To  most  the  life  mask  is  a  dead  thing:  to  the  artist  life's 
architecture.  We  and  future  ages  have  this  life  mask  to  fathom,  to  interpret,  to 
translate." 


CHAPTER  IX 


Wtirr  J&atnatb  am  tift  %,%%1\%®t  ^a*m  fiint 


f      |      EAVING  FOR  an   ocean  voyage   for  his  health  in    19  25,    George   Grey 

^^  Barnard   mailed   a   letter   to   his   father   telling   what    an    influence   that 

<^>%   J        father's   life   had    exercised   over   him:    "If    the    Christ    needs   proof    in 

men   of  the  Life,    you   are   the  living   testimony   to   the  perfect   life   of 

those  who   follow   Christ;    and   all   love   you." 

Among  the  supreme  spiritual  privileges  of  life  have  been  our  successive 
interviews  with  Dr.  Barnard,  because  they  revealed  the  soul  of  his  son.  the  great 
Lincoln  sculptor.  From  our  notes  of  these  interviews  we  are  enabled  to  put  on 
record  many  personal  but  precious  and  imperishable  facts  that  illumine  the  story 
of  truth  and  tragedy  in  chiseled  stone.  Intimate  communion  with  the  great  man 
of  God  who  fathered  such  a  son  discovers  inevitably  the  spiritual  sources  and 
origin  of  this  master  artist's  triumph.  We  shall  use  our  most  careful  discretion 
in  assembling  and  recording  the   facts  above  alluded   to. 

Dr.  Barnard  once  made  an  address  before  a  Business  Men's  Club  in  a 
Pennsylvania  town,  where  he  said  he  tried  always  to  never  let  the  man  be  lost 
in  the  minister.  The  human  was  never  obscured  by  the  ecclesiastic.  So  many 
men  of  the  sacred  cloth  give  the  hard  gloved  hand  and  become  coldly  ministerial 
iust  as  soon  as  a  man  of  the  world  comes  within  the  radius  of  their  presence. 
On  this  occasion  a  man  who  made  no  profession  of  religious  faith  told  Dr. 
Barnard  he  had  left  after  him  one  of  the  greatest  thoughts  ever  communicated 
in  the  town.  Dr.  Barnard  simply  lived  out  the  principle  implied  in  "the  Word 
made  flesh." 

"Nothing  is  farther  from  the  spirit  of  Christ."  said  he.  "than  a  cold, 
professional  aloofness  from  our  fcllowmen.  I  was  born  and  cradled  in  the  bosom 
of  democracy.  I  was  never  a  fire-eater  nor  an  agitator.  I  always  believed  in  a 
lawful  and  constitutional  approach  to  all  social  and  political  problems.  I  instinc- 
tively resolved  not  to  be  offensive  in  the  speeches  I  made  for  the  Union  during 
our  Civil  War.  After  the  war  was  over  I  was  called  upon  to  address  ten 
thousand  people  at  a  Fourth-of-July  celebration,  when  all  the  radicals  wore 
rejected  by  the  committee  and  the  public.  They  chose  me  unanimously  simply 
because,   as  a   minister,   my   message  and  spirit  did   not   wound   and   offend." 

Dr.  Barnard  was  always  a  keen  student  of  great  oratory.  He  had  a  classmate 
by  the  name  of  Kellogg,  who  had  a  wonderful  power  of  impersonation.  A  noted 
impersonator  of  the  old  days  before  the  Civil  War  came  to  the  institution  and 
gave  exhibitions  of  his  power  to  reproduce  the  impression,  voice,  eloquence  and 
magnetism  of  Clay,  Webster.  Calhoun  and  other  stars  of  the  National  Senate. 
This  was  a  gift  almost  identical  with  the  dramatic  art:  and  one  day  the  young 
man  Kellogg  astonished  everybody  by  the  same  imitation  and  impersonation.  He 
was  a  ready  speaker  on  occasion:  but  this  unusual  faculty  was  revealed  to  him 
by   contact   with   a    master  of   the   art.      Yet    the   climax   of   human    eloquence,    such 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS 


43 


as   Lincoln's    Gettysburg    speech,    is    purely    spiritual    and    inspirational    and    could 
never  be   imitated   or  counterfeited   by   the   dramatist   and   impersonator. 

"One  of  the  saddest  oversights  of  conventional  religious  people,"  said  Dr. 
Barnard,  "is  their  failure  to  recognize  the  approaches  of  God's  providence  in  the 
conversion  of  unusual  men.  Ordinary  evangelists  will  often  prescribe  certain  set 
limitations  to  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  worketh  when,  where  and 
how  He  pleases.  Many  years  ago  I  read  a  book,  and  I  have  it  somewhere  in 
my  library,  describing  a  group  of  these  exceptional  spiritual  experiences.  It  was 
a  long-gone  forerunner  of  Prof.  James'  'Varieties  of  Religious  Experience.'  We 
sorely  need  today  a  deeper  understanding  and  interpretation  of  such  cases.  Merely 
conventional  evangelists  often  fall  short  of  the  great  outside  mass  of  men 
altogether. 


REV.    J.    R.    BARNARD,    D.    D. 
The    favorite   likeness    of    Mrs.    Barnard. 


"The  religious  experience  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  perhaps  the  most  typical 
that  could  be  cited,  where  those  two  great-souled  Presbyterian  pastors  of  Civil 
War  time,  Dr.  Smith  in  Springfield,  and  Dr.  Gurley  later  in  Washington,  became 
his  close  spiritual  companions  and  brought  him  to  a  marvelous  realization  of 
grace    and    comfort.       The    awakening    of    the    human    soul    to    divine    realities    is 


44  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

sometimes  so  sudden  and  astounding  that  it  is  foolish  and  presumptuous  to  set 
down  narrow  and  dogmatic  conditions  and  ignore  these  unusual  cases.  But 
perhaps  this  is  the  old  line  of  demarkation  between  the  priest  and  the  prophet. 

"That  reminds  me  of  the  first  exhibition  of  my  son's  great  masterpiece, 
'Two  Natures  Struggling  Within  Me/  together  with  other  works  of  his  hand, 
ia  New  York  years  ago.  I  was  standing  by  when  a  group  of  men  entered  the 
gallery.  One  of  them  said,  'Ha,  what  sort  of  a  pugilistic  encounter  have  we 
fiere?'  You  see  he  was  utterly  devoid  of  spiritual  insight  and  understanding. 
He  could  catch  sight  only  of  the  rough,  outer  symbol  of  the  great  elemental 
struggle  and  conflict  between  the  material  and  the  moral,  the  physical  and  the 
spiritual,  the  selfish  and  the  social,  the  animal  and  the  human,  the  noble  and 
redeeming  outcome  and  consummation  of  which  was  stamped  upon  his  creation 
by  the  hand  of  the  artist,  but  to  which  the  superficial  spectator  was  utterly  blind. 
This  same  theme  includes  the  struggle  for  existence  and  all  the  warfare  and 
conflict   throughout  nature  and   the  kingdom   of  man." 

In  a  most  impressive  manner  Dr.  Barnard  then  proceeded  to  show  how  the 
Gospel  principles  of  sacrifice  and  reconciliation  come  in  to  modify  and  mitigate, 
and  even  to  humanize,  this  universal  struggle  and  warfare  and  conflict.  It  was 
the  discovery  of  these  principles  underlying  the  death-grapple  of  the  North  and 
the  South  in  the  'irrepressible  conflict'  set  forth  by  Lincoln  himself  that  finally 
brought  about  his  deep  consciousness  of  God  in  it  all.  Dr.  Barnard  related  an 
experience  he  had  going  out  as  a  young  preacher  to  be  the  undershepherd  of  a 
flock  in  Pennsylvania  where  a  rugged  old  pastor  had  ministered  for  fifty  years. 
He  was  a  great  shaggy,  overshadowing  figure,  Lincoln-like  in  the  size  of  his 
body,  feet  and  hands,  and  possessing  a  voice  and  manner  almost  forbidding  in 
his  lack  of  the  graces  and  attractions  of  the   Gospel. 

"This  man  wrote  out  and  read  his  sermons,  and  you  would  have  supposed 
he  had  no  hold  on  his  audience  whatever.  But  the  utter  integrity,  honesty,  and 
childlike  simplicity  and  directness  of  his  great  soul  drew  all  classes  and  conditions 
of  people  to  him.  By  and  through  his  devotion  to  his  people,  little  children 
loved  him  and  came  to  him  instinctively.  Strangers  opened  their  hearts  to  him 
as  to  a  Father  in  Israel.  This  great  Lincoln-like  man  of  God  disarmed  all  my 
fears  and  misgivings  completely;  and  I  sought  from  that  time  onward  to  get 
away  from  the  dry-bone  type  of  theology  and  to  make  my  own  preaching  human 
and  sympathetic   and   helpful. 

"My  own  conversion,  already  described  elsewhere,  convinced  me  how  God 
comes  into  our  lives  sometimes  at  the  most  startling  and  unexpected  crisis:  and 
the  salvation  of  the  individual  soul  is  often  preceded  by  the  patient,  persistent 
appeals  and  persuasions  of  some  devoted  friend  who  will  not  let  him  rest  until 
the  crisis  arrives  and  the  crucial  point  has  been  passed.  In  my  own  case,  you 
know,  it  was  such  a  friend  whose  gentle  importunities  finally  prevailed  on  me 
to  stay  just  one  night  at  a  revival  meeting  in  the  Old  Academy  of  my  student 
days;  and  the  dramatic  awakening  of  my  skeptical  companion,  who  himself  led 
the  way  to  the  altar  as  I  followed,  changed  the  whole  tenor  and  course  and 
purpose  of  my  life  in  one  hour  of  time.  What  else  could  such  an  experience  be 
but  providential? 

"When  you  come  to  tell  the  story  of  Lincoln's  great  religious  awakening 
you  will  doubtless  recount  details  just  as  ordinary  and  human  as  mine  were:  but 
what  a  mighty  outcome  there  was  in  his  case.      Now  for  this  very  reason,   namely, 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  45 

the  providence  of  God  in  small  things,  I  do  not  want  to  be  unjust  in  any  degree 
even  to  the  seemingly  narrow  religionist.  There  is  a  type  which,  on  first 
acquaintance,  seems  gracious  and  companionable,  but  on  closer  contact  shows 
up  peculiarly  stubborn  and  dogmatic  and  even  contentious.  It  is  the  Puritan 
bordering  on  the  Pietist.  I  had  a  Princeton  classmate  who  went  out  into  the 
ministry  and  after  a  few  years  had  a  conflict  with  his  Presbytery  by  preaching 
an  insistent  doctrine  of  perfection.  He  was  always  a  gentle  and  loveable  character, 
and  it  seemed  very  strange  to  me  that  he  should  have  any  conflict  at  all.  Some 
years  afterward  I  was  in  his  home  city  and  called  upon  him  and  found  him  in  the 
midst  of  a  most  worthy  work  as  a  Methodist  minister.  I  told  him  I  was  sorry 
to  hear  of  his  leaving  our  communion  and  wondered  why  he  could  not  live  and 
serve  the  Master  just  as  well  under  our  standards.  He  said  no,  it  was  not 
possible  to  him.  He  was  absolutely  sincere  and  honest  in  those  points  at  variance 
with  our  Confession  and  made  the  change  as  a  matter  of  conviction.  I  saw  that 
it  was  so;  and  after  his  death  his  son  took  the  trouble  to  write  me  in  detail  how 
dearly  beloved  his  father  was  among  the  people  he  had  pastored,  and  what  a 
worthy  work  he  had  accomplished.  He  knew  that  I  appreciated  and  respected 
his  father;  and  that  is  why  he  took  the  pains  he  did  to  convince  me  of  his 
sincerity  and  devotion  to  conviction  and  duty.  The  idea  is  to  do  every  sincere 
follower   of  Christ   full   justice   and   not   judge   any   narrowly   or   unkindly. 

"But  I  want  to  insist  that  the  old  Calvinistic  Theology  did  produce  very 
gentle  and  noble  Christian  character.  This  was  demonstrated  by  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge  himself,  who  was  perhaps  the  greatest  theologian  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church;    for   he   was   the  very   incarnation    of   loving   kindness." 

Dr.  Barnard  here  produced  a  group  picture  of  the  faculty  of  Princeton 
Seminary,  with  Dr.  Hodge  in  the  midst,  with  a  most  benignant  and  spiritual 
expression  of  countenance.  It  was  at  the  feet  of  such  a  teacher  of  religion  that 
Dr.  Barnard  imbibed  the  just  and  noble  conceptions  of  truth  that  made  him 
such  a   power  in   the  ministry   at   the  crisis  of  Civil  War. 

"The  gospel  man  should  be  the  broadest-minded  and  most  unprejudiced 
spiritual  leader  in  all  the  world,"  he  said.  "I  passed  from  LaFayette  College 
to  Princeton  Seminary  when  the  storm-cloud  of  the  great  conflict  was  hanging 
low  on  the  horizon.  I  heard  the  Abolition  denunciations  and  feared  that  their 
effect  in  the  coming  struggle  would  be  hardening  and  cruel.  The  ultimate  solution 
was  bound  to  be  remedial,  merciful  and  humane,  as  Lincoln  profoundly  realized. 
It  seems  to  me  that  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Christian  experience  there  must  of 
necessity  be  the  element  of  social  justice  and  the  vision  of  right  human  relation- 
ship. We  cannot  for  one  moment  admit  that  only  men  of  radical  and  violent 
views,  atheists  and  anarchists,  are  the  defenders  of  human  liberty  and  the  rights 
of  the  down-trodden  and  oppressed.  To  admit  such  a  thing  would  be  a  terrible 
indictment  of  our  faith.  Yet  it  may  have  been  the  very  absence  of  this  essential 
element  in  current  religious  teaching  that  made  Lincoln  so  hesitant  about  connect- 
ing himself  with  the  church.  At  all  events  his  spiritual  experience  included 
something  of  devotion  to  humankind  that  he  sighed  for  and  sorely  missed  in  the 
religion  of  his  time,  and  which  the  religion  of  our  own  time  can  never  omit  or 
lose    without    utter    disaster." 


CHAPTER  X 


"%  ^t%il4fi®x1>%i  Wxtmn" 


ONE    DAY    in    January,     1926,    while    talking    to    Dr.    Barnard    on    the 
subject    of    his    son's    recent    sculptural    creations,    he    took    from    his 
desk    a    clipping    from    a    paper    in    Tyrone,    Pennsylvania,    describing 
in    a    most    vivid    manner    the    vision    and    dream    his    son    had    of    a 
worthy   World   War    Memorial    for    America: 

"Around  a  home  dinner  table  in  New  York  sat  recently  ten  men  who 
collectively  have  done  much  within  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  to  help 
America.  They  had  come  together  to  talk  over  a  matter  of  large  possible  meaning 
to    the   people   of   this   and    perhaps   other   lands. 

"The  Great  War  was  the  first  cause  of  this  conference.  America's  part  in 
the  struggle  moved  New  York,  like  other  communities,  to  thoughts  of  a  memorial. 
Various  things  had  been  suggested;  but  near  the  close  of  the  session  a  stocky 
man  of  nearly  sixty  years,  in  whose  eyes  the  fire  of  youth  still  burns,  arose 
and  said: 

'  'I  have  heard  much  about  things  that  are  big  and  tall;  but  something 
vaster  than  the  Pennsylvania  Station,  and  higher  than  the  Woolworth  Building 
has  not  been  mentioned.  The  greatest  height  a  man's  mind  can  conceive  is  that 
covered   by   a  child's   hand,    reaching    up   to   its   mother's   heart.' 

"Of  course,  the  meeting  sat  up.  'Who  is  he?'  whispered  one  man  to 
another.      'George   Grey   Barnard'    came   the   whispered   reply. 

"It  was  the  famous  sculptor,  born  out  in  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania,  the  son 
of  the  very  first  pastor  of  our  church,  Rev.  J.  H.  Barnard,  D.  D.,  who  was 
ordained  and  installed  June  12,  1860,  in  our  church.  Rev.  Mr.  Barnard  is 
still  preaching  in  Madison,  Indiana. 

"Mr.  George  Grey  Barnard  continued:  'The  trembling,  seeking  hand  of  a 
hurt  and  tired  world-child  today  is  reaching  up  to  the  heart  of  the  Mother  of 
Peaceful  Progress.  Let  us  catch  this  yearning,  and  hold  it  for  the  inspiration 
of  ourselves,  and  those  who  come  after  us,  in  a  form  as  impressive  and  imperish- 
able as  our  hands  can  lift. 

'Our  American  metropolis  possesses  one  of  the  most  wonderful  sites  in 
the  whole  world.  Fort  Washington  Point,  that  beautiful  cliff  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  Manhattan,  was  predestined  by  history  as  well  as  nature  to  become  the 
site  upon  which  the  temple  of  this  nation's  greatness  should  rise.  For  on  the 
plateau  at  the  north  end  of  Fort  Washington  Avenue  arc  still  the  rocks  and 
trees  that  witnessed  the  struggle  of  Washington's  soldiers   with   the  Hessians.' 

"Mr.  Barnard  pointed  out  minutely  how  the  memorial  should  be  made: 
but  there  is,  of  course,  no  thought  of  one.  or  even  ten  sculptors,  accomplishing 
this  project.  The  work  would  require  years  of  effort  on  the  part  of  perhaps  half 
a  hundred  men  and  women,  gifted  with  the  power  to  put  life-meaning  into 
bronze  and   stone.      It    was   to   point   a   way,    if   possible,    to   a    real   start,    that    the 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS 


47 


ten  men  met  in  quiet  conference.  They  knew  that  the  owner  of  this  marvelous 
site,  John  D.  Rockefeller,  stands  ready  to  give  it  to  the  people,  if  assured  of 
its  use  for  this  purpose." 

We  asked  Dr.  Barnard  how  it  was  that  against  the  background  of  the 
American  mountains  and  frontier,  in  a  new  country,  only  one  generation  removed 
from  the  most  primitive  conditions  of  culture,  he  could  become  the  father  of  one 
of  the  greatest  sculptors  of  all   time? 


Doctor    Barnard    as    he    appeared    at    the    time    of    his    death 
in    April,    1926 


He  answered:  "That  is  a  question  of  biology."  His  father  was  a  violinist 
and  architect.  Mrs.  Barnard,  the  sculptor's  mother,  was  an  artist  and  musician 
who  could  have  cultivated  her  talents  to  the  point  of  real  accomplishment.  In 
the  Grubbs  family,  which  was  the  name  of  Mrs.  Barnard's  people,  there  was  a 
sister  of  Mrs.  Barnard's  living  in  London,  who  traced  the  Grubbs  back  to  the 
Danes  and  Swedes  of  the  Eighth  Century;  and  one  picture  in  those  ancestral 
generations  was  so  much  like  Mrs.  Barnard  that  any  one  who  knew  her  would 
have  remarked  upon  the  resemblance.  The  hair  was  dark  and  the  eyes  were  blue; 
and  Dr.  Barnard  showed  us  a  wonderfully  sweet  and  impressive  picture  of  his 
wife,   taken   from  an   old   daguerreotype  of    185  8    or    1859. 

Mrs.  Barnard,  mother  of  the  great  sculptor,  was  born  across  the  street  from 
the  Lincoln  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois.  Lincoln  took  her  in  his  arms  when 
she  was  a  little  girl.  Dr.  Barnard  said  he  never  knew  her  to  be  moody  or 
despondent  in  all  the  fifty-nine  years  of  their  married  life.  He  met  her  at  a 
little  town  out  of  Philadelphia  during  his  student  days  at  Princeton  Seminary 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.      He  had  gone  down  there   from   Princeton 


48  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

as  a  pulpit  supply  for  that  Sunday;  and  she  was  in  the  audience.  The  impression 
seems  to  have  been   mutual,    immediate  and  permanent. 

Mrs.  Barnard  was  the  daughter  of  George  G.  Grubbs.  He  was  a  Virginian 
by  descent  with  some  of  the  striking  characteristics  of  a  Southern  gentleman  of 
the  old  school — speculative  and  venturesome  at  times  in  his  investments;  open- 
hearted  and  free-handed  in  hospitality  and  family  life;  perhaps  not  sufficiently 
worldly-wise  in  money  matters.  Yet.  since  money  meant  so  little  to  him.  this 
characteristic  was  strong  in  his  distinguished  grandson  and  namesake — George  Grey 
Barnard,  who,  like  a  true  artist  and  idealist,  has  nothing  of  calculation,  cunning 
or  selfish   accumulation   in   his   makeup. 

George  G.  Grubbs  was  an  Eastern  man  who  went  to  Springfield.  Illinois, 
back  in  the  forties  and  made  lots  of  money  in  real  estate.  He  knew  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  personally  and  heard  them  debate.  His  stories  of  these  mighty  men 
afterward  influenced  the  sculptor  profoundly.  Mr.  Grubbs  returned  East  in 
subsequent  years  and  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia.  The  home  was  a 
lovely  cottage  and  his  income  was  sufficient  for  comfort.  But  his  wife  developed 
tuberculosis  and  he  took  her  to  Minnesota,  where  she  passed  away.  Mr.  Grubbs 
himself  died  about  seventy  years  of  age.  He  brought  his  wife  back  to  Philadelphia 
for  burial.  He  was  not  a  man  to  complain  of  misfortune,  but  made  the  best 
of  life  even  in  adversity.  He  was  very  resourceful  and  when  the  Civil  War  was 
raging  he  repaired  his  financial  losses  by  opening  a  manufacturing  establishment 
to  produce  some  essential  article  about  the  Federal  officer's  uniform. 

Dr.  Barnard  visited  the  old  church  and  graves  of  his  parents  up  in  the 
Pennsylvania  mountains  during  one  of  his  trips  back  East.  He  made  a  careful 
survey  of  his  early  childhood  environment  and  influences.  The  older  generation 
were  all  gone  and  only  one  old  man  was  left  in  the  church  who  remembered 
the  former  times.  Dr.  Barnard's  birthplace  was  at  Pleasant  View,  in  Juniata 
County.  As  he  stood  at  the  graves  of  his  father  and  mother  up  there  in  the 
Tyrone  Valley  the  sad  memory  of  his  mother's  funeral  came  back  to  him  with 
surprising  force.  A  big  Scotch  Presbyterian  minister  was  to  have  conducted  it, 
but  his  vehicle  broke  down  in  the  woods  on  the  way,  and  he  was  unable  to  obtain 
another.  So  dark  was  coming  on;  and  Dr.  Barnard  himself  told  his  father  that 
he  would  conduct  the  service  as  best  he  could.  He  resolved  from  that  experience 
never  to  say  anything  at  a  funeral  that  would  leave  an  unhappy  impression. 
Dr.  Barnard  closed  his  wife's  piano  after  her  death  and  has  never  opened  it  since: 
but  he  does  not  sorrow  in  these  losses  as  those  who  have  no  hope.  His  son  was 
awakened  to  a  profound  conviction  and  vision  of  immortality  after  the  mother's 
death;  and  in  the  memorial  to  Mrs.  Bernheim,  of  Louisville,  he  has  created  a 
masterpiece  that  will  be  reproduced  in  marble  at  the  grave  of  his  mother  in 
Madison,  Indiana.  This  memorial  is  the  figure  of  a  woman  with  something  of 
the  same  hope  and  promise  as  in  "The  Rose  Maiden,"  but  more  mature  and 
motherly.      It   is   called,    "Let   there   be   Light." 

In  the  Pennsylvania  mountains,  where  Dr.  Barnard  was  born,  the  snow 
often  lay  six  feet  on  the  level  and  you  could  not  get  out  except  on  horseback. 
But  Dr.  Barnard  always  thanked  God  he  was  not  a  hot-house  plant,  but  had  faced 
the  difficulties  and  struggles  of  life.  He  always  faced  these  with  courage  and 
hope,  and  with  the  idea  of  bettering  even  the  worst  conditions.  He  possesses 
a  profound  faith  in  what  he  calls  the  providences  of  human  life.  He  instanced 
the    story    of    Joseph    and    his    Brethren    to    illustrate    this    faith    that    God's    hand 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  49 

is  in  all  the  events  of  our  lives  and  that  He  overrules  them  for  some  good  end. 
There  is  nothing  else  to  do  under  some  circumstances  but  to  submit  and  trust 
God  for  the  final  outcome.  That  was  all  Joseph  could  do  amid  the  hate  and 
cruelty  of  his  Brethren;  but  in  the  end  his  old  father  and  all  the  family  were 
assembled  in  the  Land  of  Goshen,  reconciled  and  happy.  He  said  in  this  connec- 
tion that  we  should  always  have  our  eyes  open  to  recognize  good  wherever  we 
find  it;  be  tolerant  of  other  people's  religious  viewpoint;  and  to  recognize  that 
God's  providences  operate  in  a  thousand  ways  and  means  that  we  scarcely  dream 
of.  He  dwelt  very  tenderly  upon  the  beautiful  friendship  of  Dr.  Gurley, 
Lincoln's  pastor  in  Washington  during  the  Civil  War.  He  said  that  he  was  in 
the  East  and  knew  quite  well  the  great  influence  Dr.  Gurley  had  over  Lincoln 
spiritually;  that  he  was  much  closer  to  the  President's  real  soul  than  the  politi- 
cians could  possibly  be,  and  understood  him  a  great  deal  better.  He  instanced 
this  experience  again  to  prove  the  presence  and  purpose  of  God  in  our  national 
history;  even  down  to  the  last  dark  tragedy  of  the  assassination,  which  was 
overruled  to  the  majesty  of  God's  justice  and  the  infinitude  of  his  merciful  love 
as  the  years  passed  on  and  the  figure  of  Lincoln  arose  sublime  and  immortal  as  we 
now  behold  it. 

We  have  dwelt  upon  the  spiritual  unfoldment  of  Dr.  Barnard  somewhat  in 
detail  because  it  was  always  the  impression  of  George  Grey  Barnard  that  he  got 
his  philosophy  of  life  from  his  father,  and  his  artistic  instinct  from  his  mother. 
There  were  two  of  Dr.  Barnard's  family  who  were  violinists  and  architects. 
Dr.  Barnard  himself  was  in  no  sense  a  mechanic  but  an  idealist.  He  laughingly 
said  he  could  not  even  drive  a  nail.  However,  he  told  George  one  day  that  he 
could  shut  his  eyes  and  faces  would  come  up  and  pass  before  him  in  endless 
procession  that  he  had  not  seen  before.  George  said  he  had  often  watched  his 
father  draw  human  faces  and  animals  involuntarily.  Dr.  Barnard  is  certain  that 
his  son's  creative  and  constructive  gift  is  an  inheritance  from  his  Barnard  fore- 
bears.    His  love  of  nature  and  the  open  is  also  a  pronounced  paternal  inheritance. 

Dr.  Barnard  had  two  uncles  who  left  the  old  home  in  the  Pennsylvania 
mountains  in  early  days.  One  went  to  West  Virginia,  built  a  log  cabin  and 
lived  and  died  there.  The  other  brother  enlisted  among  the  volunteers  in  the 
war  with  Mexico.  He  wrote  letters  home  on  a  drumhead.  He  was  a  world- 
rover  and  would  be  gone  from  home  six  or  seven  years  at  a  time.  He  would 
tie  a  few  belongings  in  a  bandanna  handkerchief  and  walk  over  the  mountains 
to  the  West.  He  was  full  of  stories  and  life  and  fun.  He  carried  a  violin  with 
him  and  was  a  droll  companion.      He  would  slip  away   without  saying  goodbye. 

Dr.  Barnard  said  that  the  differences  of  inheritance  in  brothers  was  a  deep 
problem  of  biology  and  psychology.  His  other  son,  Evan,  loved  the  open  and 
went  to  the  Southwest.  He  did  not  like  school  or  restraint.  He  settled  on  a 
ranch  in  Oklahoma  with  several  other  cattle  men  and  fixed  the  dwelling  com- 
fortably. He  made  a  promise  to  his  father  before  he  left  home  that  he  would 
never  drink  or  gamble,  and  when  he  returned  to  see  his  father  and  mother,  the 
first  thing  Dr.  Barnard  said  to  him  was,  "Evan,  have  you  kept  your  promise?" 
"I  have,  father,"  he  answered,  looking  the  minister  squarely  in  his  eyes;  and  the 
father   and   mother   greatly    rejoiced. 

The  story  has  often  been  told  how  George  rebelled  against  making  a  speech 
at  school  and  ran  away  with  a  schoolmate  to  Chicago,  where  they  found  a  way 
of  making  expenses  and  heard  Joe  Jefferson  in   "Rip  Van  Winkle."      This  contact 


50  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

was  calculated  to  make  a  lasting  impression  upon  George.  He  later  became  a 
jewel  engraver  and  made  a  bust  of  his  sister  while  they  lived  in  Muscatine,  Iowa. 
That  discovered  his  genius  for  sculpture.  He  had  stuffed  and  mounted  birds 
and  other  nature  specimens  until  he  had  quite  a  collection.  Then  one  day  he 
got  hold  of  some  blue  clay  and  took  his  sister  up  in  the  garret  and  made  the 
model  of  her.      She  had  exquisite  eyes. 

So  another  memorable  day  George  came  to  his  father  and  said.  "Father,  I 
am  going  to  Paris  to  study."  He  had  gotten  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  for 
the  head  of  lovely  girlhood  he  had  modeled,  and  that  determined  him  to  go  to 
the  Mecca  of  all  creative  art.  The  father  was  astonished,  but  saw  at  a  glance 
that  it  was  no  use  to  oppose  him.  He  merely  said,  "George,  I  doubt  the  wisdom 
of  it;    but   maybe   you   are   right." 

Young  Barnard  went  to  Paris  when  he  did  not  even  know  enough  French 
to  order  a  meal.  A  young  man  sitting  close  by  said  to  him,  "Maybe  I  can 
help  you."  They  were  both  Americans.  The  young  man's  name  was  Charles 
Black,  of  Indianapolis,  a  singer.  They  became  fast  friends.  There  was  another 
American,  a  Mr.  Clark  of  New  York,  who  was  a  third  in  this  trio  of  friends, 
and  he  took  such  a  deep  interest  in  the  work  George  dreamed  of  doing  that  he 
assisted  in  setting  up  his  first  studio.  He  had  only  executed  his  juvenile  efforts 
back  home  and  he  spent  three  or  four  years  in  hard  study  in  Paris.  But  he 
foresaw  what  his  work  would  be.  He  got  a  great  block  of  marble,  too  heavy 
to  transport  through  the  streets  of  Paris  and  it  had  to  be  cut  down  to  the  proper 
dimensions.  He  wrote  home,  but  never  gave  much  account  of  what  he  was 
doing.  There  was  the  reserve  and  tireless  patience  of  the  real  man  and  artist 
in  him.  He  toiled  away  for  about  six  years  and  the  result  was  "Two  Natures 
Struggling  Within  Me." 

No  one  knew  until  this  masterpiece  was  uncovered  on  exhibition  just  what 
he  had  wrought.  The  eternal  struggle  of  man  with  nature  and  with  man  was 
in  his  mind.  "The  Hewer"  was  another  great  creation  depicting  man's  attack 
on  the  forest  and  leveling  the  way  for  civilization  and  progress.  This  youth 
of  twenty  odd  years  was  already  an  incipient  Michael  Angelo.  He  passed  from 
these  elemental  subjects  to  the  loftiest  soul  themes.  "The  Friends,"  executed  out 
of  a  block  of  marble,  and  representing  the  outstretched  hands  of  comradeship  and 
brotherly  love  feeling  for  each  other  through  the  block  of  marble,  which  symbol- 
ized any  intervening  obstacle  or  hindrance  of  human  life,  was  a  triumph  of 
indescribable  beauty  and  nobility.  It  most  probably  expressed  the  bosom  com- 
radeship with  Charles  Black  and  Mr.  Clark.  It  was  made  for  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Clark,  his  first  patron.  Dr.  Barnard  one  day  asked  George  what  this  master- 
piece meant.  George  answered  that  each  one  should  seek  to  discover  in  it  a 
meaning   for  himself,    which   is   true   poetry. 

His  last  great  dream  grew  out  of  the  World  War.  He  is  restless  till  he  can 
get  to  work  upon  it.  A  woman  and  a  child  arc  the  chief  figures  because  they 
are  the  greatest  sufferers  from  war.  He  intends  to  stigmatize  War  and  to  exalt 
Peace;    and   this   is   the   climax   of  his  life's   work   to   the   present   hour. 


CHAPTER  XI 


f^    N     RESPONSE    to    our    communication    with    the    First    Presbyterian 

fm  ^-1         Church     of     Springfield,     Illinois,     with     reference     to     Rev.     James 

^^    J         Smith,    D.    D.,    the   pastor   and   personal    friend    of   Abraham    Lincoln 

and  his   wife,   Mary  Todd  Lincoln,   during   their  great  sorrow   in   the 

loss   of   their   little   boy,    Edward   Baker   Lincoln,    February    1,    1850,    we    received 

from  Mr.   Isaac  R.   Diller,  Clerk  of  Session,   a  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary   Story  of 

the  Church  and  the  following  letter  about  Dr.   Smith: 

Springfield,    Illinois,    November    28,    1925 
Rev.   Lucien   V.   Rule, 
Goshen,   Ky. 
Dear  Brother  Rule: 

Dr.  Thomas  gave  me  your  letter  of  the  6th  inst.  to  answer,  and  I  enclose 
a  copy  of  the  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  Souvenir  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  contains  a  cut  of  Dr.  Smith,  and  also  those  of  the  exterior  and 
interior  of  the  Old  Church  which  Mr.  Lincoln  attended — showing  the  family 
pew  as  draped  by  a  flag  on  the  occasion  of  the  centennial  anniversary  of  his 
birth,  at  which  time  Dr.  Logan  preached  the  sermon  in  the  Old  Church,  although 
at  that  time  it  was  the  property  of  the  St.  John's  Lutheran  Church. 

Since  that  time  the  old  building  has  been  torn  down  and  replaced  by  business 
houses,  but  the  Lincoln  pew  is  now  preserved  in  our  present  building.  In  a 
frame  kept  with  the  pew  is  a  picture  of  the  interior,  with  a  plot  of  the  old 
church,  showing  more  clearly  the  location  of  the  Lincoln  pew,  and  the  copy  of 
a  letter  written  by  Mrs.  Lincoln  in  April,  1861,  to  the  wife  of  the  Chairman 
of  the  Pew  Committee,  saying  she  had  intended  to  request  that  upon  their  return 
at  the  end  of  his  term,  they  might  have  the  promise  that  they  could  have  the 
pew  again,  which  they  had  occupied  for  ten  years,  and  to  which  they  were 
greatly   attached. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  get  an  original  photograph  to  send  you,  but  feel 
sure  they  can   get  cuts  from   these   prints. 

Last  October  I  was  in  Lexington  (Kentucky)  and  visited  the  interesting 
Library  of  Transylvania  College,  and  asked  the  accommodating  librarian  to  show 
us  some  of  their  most  treasured  volumes,  which  she  did,  and  then  came  with 
a  calf-bound  book  in  her  hand  saying  this  was  one  they  valued  most  highly, 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  its  contents  had  greatly  influenced  the  religious  life 
of  Abraham   Lincoln. 

I  recognized  it,  as  I  had  seen  the  copy  Miss  Nettie  Smith  has,  but  had 
never  read  it.  I  told  the  lady  the  writer  of  this  book  was  the  second  pastor 
of  the  church  to  which  I  belonged  in  Springfield.  After  my  return,  I  was  talking 
to  an  old  friend  who  as  a  boy  had  heard  Dr.  Smith  preach  very  often;  and  he 
told  me  he  had  a  copy  of  Dr.  Smith's  "The  Christian  Defense,"  and  would 
let  me  have  it  to  read,  which  I  did  with  great  interest. 


52 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


I  have  not  read  Dr.  Barton's  last  book,  so  do  not  know  how  much  or 
little  he  says  about  Dr.  Smith.  You  may  know  that  as  a  young  man  he  was 
an  infidel  and  came  over  to  this  country  to  lecture  on  Infidelity.  While  in 
Kentucky  or  Tennessee  he  came  under  the  influence  of  the  Cumberland  Revival 
and  was  converted;  and,  like  Paul  of  old,  began  to  preach  the  faith  he  one? 
tried  to  destroy.  The  two  volumes  bound  together  in  this  book  were  the  sub- 
stance of  a  series  of  nineteen  debates  he  had  with  a  noted  infidel  in  Mississippi. 
You  may  also  know  how  Lincoln  became  interested  in  the  book,  so  I  will  not 
go  into  that. 


REV.    JAMES    SMITH,    D.    D. 
Pastor   of   Abraham   Lincoln    at    Spring-field,    Illinois,    1850 — '56 

Lincoln's  biographer,  Dr.  Barton,  says  that  Lincoln's  habit  of  church 
attendance  showed  no  marked  cihange  until  1850,  when  his  second  son. 
Edward  Biaker  Lincoln,  died.  The  date  was  February  1.  Mrs.  Lincoln  had 
been  a  Presbyterian  from  her  youth,  but  attended  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Springfield  after  her  marriage  and  became  a  member  of  it.  In  this  sore 
bereavement  the  Episcopal  pastor  was  out  of  town  and  Dr.  Smith,  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  was  called  in  to  conduct  the  funeral  service.  His 
acquaintance  with  Lincoln  had  been  but  casual:  now  it  became  close  and 
cordial.  He  found  Lincoln  deeply  ^depressed  in  spirit,  and  this  led  to  a 
number  of  very  intimate  conversations  between  them.  Mrs.  Lincoln  removed 
her  membership  to  Dr.  Smith's  Church;  and  Lincoln  took  a  pew  there  and 
attended  regularly  with  her.  He  afterwiard  saw  a  book  by  Dr.  Smith.  "The 
Christian's  Defence,"  which  was  the  substance  of  the  debaters  Dr.  Smith  had 
with  a  noted  skeptic  in  the  South.  Lincoln  saw'  the  book  while  on  a  visit 
to  Mrs.  Lincoln's  relatives  in  Kentucky  the  spring  alter  little  Edward's  death. 
He  sought  a  closer  friendship  with  Dr.  Smith  upon  his  return  to  Springfield. 
and  bore  witness  to  the  influence  the  book  had  over  him.  Elder  Thomas 
Lewis  of  Dr.  Smith's  Church  says  the  Lincolns  put  their  children  in  Sunday 
School;  and  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  came  into  the  church  on  profession  of  faith 
during  a  revival  meeting  which  she  and  her  husband  attended  constantly- 
including  the  inquiry  meetings.  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  converted  in  this  revival, 
and  all  of  his  friends  expected  him  to  make  a  public  profession  and  unite 
the  same  time  his  wife  did.  But  he  was  absent  in  Detroit  on  an  important 
case  when  the  new  converts  were  received  into  the  church.  However,  he 
said  to  Dr.  Smith  that  he  was  deeply  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  the  session  of  the  church  invited  Lincoln  to  make  an  address 
on  the  Bible.  It  was  delivered  to  a  crowded  house  and  was  a  most  impres- 
sive utterance.  From  this  time  on  Lincoln  was  a  profoundly  changed  man 
in  spirit.  Dr.  Smith  was  a  Southern  man  in  his  sympathies  but  not  a  se- 
cessionist.     He   always   said   Lincoln    was    a   converted   man. 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  53 

Dr.  Smith  is  the  only  one  of  the  eight  pastors  of  our  church  whom  I  never 
remember  having  seen,  as  his  ministry  ended  in  185  6,  and  I  was  born  in  1854. 
His  son  continued  to  live  here,  so  his  grand-daughters  and  great  grand-sons  are 
still   members   of   our   church   and   faithful    workers   in   it. 

What  deeply  impressed  me  in  reading  his  book  was  that  the  very  teachings 
Dr.  Smith  fought  against  as  rank  infidelity  are  now  preached  in  many  of  our  and 
other  church  pulpits  as  modernism.  Dr.  Olmstead  has  many  successors  advoca- 
ting in  the  pulpits  and  seminaries  of  evangelical  churches  the  doubts  and  denials 
of  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  with  which  he  filled  the  minds  of  the  youth  he  misled. 
Again  trusting  you  can  secure  some  data  for  your  historical  article  from 
this   Souvenir,    which   you   can   keep   if  you   so   desire,    I   remain 

Yours  very  truly, 

ISAAC   R.    DILLER,    Clerk   of   Session, 
First  Presbyterian  Church. 

From  Miss  Jeanette  E.  Smith,  1028  East  Monroe  Street,  Springfield, 
Illinois,  we  received  the  following  letter  in  reply  to  our  request  for  data  con- 
cerning her  grandfather,   Rev.   James  H.   Smith,   D.   D. : 

Springfield,    Illinois,    December    21,     192^ 
Rev.   Lucien   V.    Rule; 

My   dear   Sir: 

You  will  please  pardon  my  seeming  neglect  in  answering  your  very  interes- 
ting letter.  In  the  first  place  your  letter  went  to  another  Miss  Jeanette  Smith 
in  our  city;  but  finally  reached  me.  That  fact  and  my  sister  ill  in  bed  for  more 
than  a  week  after  that,   and  other  duties,   have  delayed  me. 

I  am  enclosing  my  grandfather's  picture,  trusting  you  for  its  safe  return, 
as  I  prize  it  very  much.  It  is  the  same  I  loaned  Dr.  Barton  and  Wm.  J.  Johnson, 
the  latter  writing.  "Abraham  Lincoln,  The  Christian."  He  has  my  grandfather's 
picture  in  his  book;  also  one  of  the  church  where  he  preached  and  which  Lincoln 
attended  in   Springfield.      You   may  have  seen   it. 

The  articles  or  manuscript  are  just  what  I  loaned  Dr.  Barton  and  Mr. 
Johnson.  Will  send  them  if  you  would  like  to  see  them  for  yourself;  but  I 
could  give  you  a  little  more  of  his  personal  life  if  you  would  like  to  have  it. 
I   will   be   very   glad   to   do   this   immediately   after   Christmas. 

I  have  a  picture  of  his  boyhood  home,  a  beautiful  place  in  Scotland;  a 
picture  of  his  monument  in  Glasgow,  where  he  is  buried;  and  a  copy  of  his 
funeral  cortege.  I  know  he  spent  the  biggest  part  of  his  life  in  the  South;  but 
do  not  think  he  advocated  slavery. 

My  brother,  sister  and  self  had  a  most  interesting  auto  trip  through  a  part 
of  Kentucky  in  October — going  to  Mammoth  Cave,  Lincoln's  Birthplace  and 
Louisville.  Going  through  Shelbyville  to  Lexington,  we  saw  the  spot  where  we 
were  told  our   grandfather   used   to  preach. 

Wishing  you  great  success  with  your  book,  "The  Forerunners  of  Lincoln," 
also  the  best  wishes  of  the  season,  I  am 

Cordially    yours, 

JEANETTE   E.   SMITH. 


54  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

A  few  weeks  later  we  received  a  second  letter  from  Miss  Smith: 

Springfield,    Illinois,    January    26,    1926 
Rev.    Lucien    V.    Rule. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Rule: 

I  received  your  letters  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  my  grandfather's  photo- 
graph, also  the  pictures  and  papers  sent  later.  I  am  truly  glad  to  be  of  that 
Household  of  Faith  in  God  both  by  personal  knowledge  and  inheritance;  and  I 
thank  you  for  your  kind  expression  of  appreciation  of  the  latter.  I  have  that 
godly   ancestry    on    both    sides   of    the    house    (all    Presbyterians) . 


REV.    PHINEA'S    D.    GURLEY,    D.    D. 

Dr.  Barton  tells  us  that  Lincoln's  pastor  in  Washington  wias  Rev. 
Phineas  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Churoh. 
Dr.  Gurley's  grandson,  Captain  Gurley,  says  that  Dr.  G-urley  sat  with  Lincoln 
on  the  rear  porch  of  the  White  House  during-  the  trying  suspense  of  the 
Second  Battle  of  Bull  Run.  The  President's  anxiety  became  so  great  that 
he  knelt  in  earnest  prayer  with  his  pastor.  Lincoln  attended  the  weekly 
prayer  meetings  o'f  the  church,  and,  to  avoid  unpleasant  publicity,  sat  in 
the  pastor's  study  with  the  door  open.  He  said  the  prayers  giave  him  more 
comfort  than  the  public  addresses.  He  once  said  to  Dr.  Gurley  that  while 
he  might  not  be  able  to  conscientiously  subscribe  to  all  points  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Fiaith,  yet  if  the  chief  requirements  of  a  follower  of  Christ  were 
to  vow  his  love  to  God  with  all  his  heart,  soul,  mind  and  strength,  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  he  coufld  and  intended  doing-  that.  Dr.  Gurley  was 
very  close  to  Lincoln  in  his  personal  bereavement  in  Wasihington  and 
preached   the   funeral    sermon   at   the    time   of  his  tragic   death. 

Dr.  Gurley  was  a  native  of  New  York  State  (November  12,  1S16)  and 
was  descended  from  Scotch  Covenanters.  His  mother  was  a  devout  Meth- 
odist. He  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  Seminary,  and  was  called,  ordained 
and  installed  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Indianapolis,  Decem- 
ber 15,  1840.  He  was  a  scholarly,  powerful  proacher  of  the  gospel'.  He 
later  became  a  pastor  in  Washington  City  and  Chaplain  of  the  U.  S.  Senate. 
In  1859  he  became  pastor  of  a  united  body  of  Preslbyterians  in  the  New 
Vork  Avenue  Church,  where  the  Lincolns  afterward  worshipped.  He  was 
supremely  comforting  in  times  of  trouble  and  sorrow,  and  hence  his  deep 
influence  over  Lincoln.  Dr.  Gurley  was  a  foremost  man  in  the  councils  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  Civil  War  times.  He  always  upheld  Lincoln  and 
defended  his  memory  from  the  imputation  of  skepticism.  Dr.  Gurley  died 
September   30,    1868. 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS  55 

I  am  sending  you  in  a  few  days  a  sketch  of  my  grandfather's  life,  such  as 
I  have  heard  from  older  relatives,  and  which  you  may  use  or  not  as  you  see  fit. 

It  may  interest  you  a  little  to  know  that  my  sister  a  few  years  ago  married 
Mr.  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  a  grandson  of  the  Mr.  Ninian  W.  Edwards  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Barton  and  Dr.  Johnson  in  their  books,  as  the  brother-in-law  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.      He  is  also  the  grandnephew  of  Mrs.   Lincoln. 

My  grandfather  has  one  great  grandson,  William  Gordon,  of  Kentucky,  who 
is  a  minister.  He  was  in  Greenville,  Kentucky,  two  years  ago,  but  I  don't  think 
he  is  there  now.  My  grandfather  has  three  great  grandsons  bearing  his  name 
(Smith)  ,  the  sons  of  a  brother,  who  died  when  they  were  small.  They  are  now 
20,  22  and  24  years  of  age.  My  sister  and  I  had  the  raising  of  two  of  them. 
One  of  them  is  engaged  in  Y.   M.   C.   A.   work  here  in  Springfield. 

I  have  always  been  much  interested  in  my  grandfather  Smith  since  I  have 
been  of  an  age  to  appreciate  what  he  has  done.  I  did  not  send  you  his  book, 
as  I  thought  you  might  have  access  to  one  of  them  at  Lexington,  Cincinnati  or 
Centre  College.  I  do  not  like  to  let  it  out  of  my  hands,  for  fear  of  fire  or 
accident;  but  am  always  glad  to  let  anyone  see  it  here  at  home.  I  made  Dr. 
Barton  that  offer,  as  he  was  in  Springfield  on  several  occasions.  I  also  told  him 
of  one  in  Chicago.  I  shall  be  interested  to  know  when  your  book  is  out. 
Sincerely   and   cordially    yours, 

JEANETTE    E.    SMITH. 

On  February  2,  1926,  Miss  Smith  sent  us  the  sketch  of  her  grandfather's 
life,  published  herewith,  which  brings  to  light  some  facts  not  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Barton  in  his   "Soul   of  Abraham   Lincoln." 

LIFE    OF    REV.    JAMES    SMITH,    D.    D. 

Rev.  James  Smith,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  May  11,  1798, 
the  son  of  Peter  and  Margaret  (Bruce)  Smith,  his  mother  being  a  descendant 
of  the  royal  Bruce  family  of  Scotland.  While  he  was  yet  young,  his  father  died 
in  the  year   1806.      His  mother,   considered  a  beautiful  woman,   died  later. 

His  father's  brother,  Hugh,  raised  both  him  and  a  brother  George,  at  his 
home  Newton  Airds,  near  Dumfries.  James  received  a  liberal  college  education. 
His  Uncle  expected  him  to  go  into  foreign  trade,  but  when  he  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age  he  married  Elizabeth  Black,  and  both  came  to  the  United  States. 
(His  brother  George  when  a   young  man   was  lost   at  sea.) 

Before  coming  to  the  United  States  he  received  some  inheritance  money, 
which  he  lost  soon  after  coming  here  through  his  generosity  in  going  on  a  note 
for  a  friend,  which  note  he  had  later  to  pay.  He  was  then  compelled  to  earn 
his  livelihood   by   his   pen,   contributing   articles   for   papers   and   magazines. 

In  his  young  manhood,  through  his  readings  of  Paine  and  others,  he  became 
one  of  their  followers,  and  when  living  in  Southern  Indiana  went  with  some 
other  young  men  of  kindred  spirit  to  break  up  a  Methodist  Revival  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, but  instead  was  converted.  No  Presbyterian  Church  of  our  denomi- 
nation being  there,  he  united  with  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  (the 
family  in  Scotland  were  Presbyterians.) 

After  a  course  in  Theology,  in  which  he  was  thoroughly  Calvinistic,  he 
went  to  preaching,  and  remained  an  ordained  Minister  of  the  Gospel  as  long  as 
he  lived.  The  pastorates  he  held,  that  I  knew  of,  were  at  Russellville,  Bowling 
Green  and  Shelbyville,  Kentucky.  From  Russelville  he  went  to  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, where  he  lived  for  about  ten  years,  and  where  he  owned  the  first  steam 
printing  press  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  He  had  no  pastorate  here  but 
did  the  publishing  for  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  He  did  a  great 
deal  of  evangelistic   work  in   the  Southern   States. 


56 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


During  the  camp  meetings  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
were  held  every  summer,  he  was  one  of  their  most  convincing  preachers.  He 
was  a  fine  orator  and  had  an  unusually  strong  and  clear  voice,  which  could  be 
heard  at  a  long  distance. 

I  think  it  was  while  at  Bowling  Green  that  he  had  the  debate  with  Mr. 
Olmstead  at  Columbus,  Miss.,  which  he  later  compiled  in  book  form  and  pub- 
lished, called  "The  Christian's  Defence."  His  second  eldest  daughter,  Katherine. 
was  his  constant  helper,    taking   all   his   dictation   in    writing   for   the   book. 

From  Bowling  Green  he  went  to  Shelbyville,  Kentucky.  Part  of  his  work 
there  was  to  build  a  new  brick  church.  He  left  Shelbyville  on  account  of  his 
health.  The  doctor  advised  change  of  scene,  so  he  and  his  wife  spent  some  time 
traveling   in   his   carriage,    their   family    remaining    in    Shelbyville. 


Boyhood  Home  of  Doctor  Smith,  Newton  Airds,  near 
Dumfries,  Scotland.  Here  he  lived  with  an  uncle,  after 
his  father's  death,  and  was  given  a  thorough  collegiate 
education. 


He  regained  his  health  and  did  some  evangelizing  just  previous  to  his  call 
to  Springfield,  Illinois.  He  became  pastor  April  11,  1849,  which  he  held  until 
December  17,  185  6.  (From  the  material  you  have  you  know  of  his  work  in 
Springfield  and  his  connection  with  Mr.  Lincoln.)  On  March  26.  1856,  while 
holding  the  pastorate  at  Springfield,  he  was  appointed  Director  for  life  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,   dated  and  signed  by   officers  at  New   York. 

After  leaving  Sprinfield,  for  two  or  three  year  he  acted  as  agent  for  Peoria 
Illinois  University.  He  must  have  lived  in  Belleville,  Illinois,  for  a  while,  for 
his  library  was  sent  from  there  to  a  married  daughter's  in  Chicago.  When  she 
died  in  about  1881  and  the  house  was  sold,  it  was  scattered  and  I  do  not  know 
what  became  of  it. 

My  grandfather  and  grandmother  had  eight  children,  six  daughters  and  two 
sons;  the  sons,  Hugh  and  James  Bruce  (the  latter  my  father)  being  the  youngest. 
My  two  brothers,  (one  deceased)  my  sister  and  myself  were  the  only  grand- 
children bearing  the  name  of  Smith.  My  Uncle.  Hugh  Smith,  had  no  children. 
There    are    now    living    six    grandchildren,    three    in    Springfield,    two    in    Kentuckv 


THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  KENTUCKIANS 


57 


and    one    in    Wisconsin;    a    large    number    of    great    grandchilden    and    some    great, 
great  grandchildren. 

Mr.  Lincoln  appointed  Mr.  Hugh  Smith,  my  uncle,  as  consul  to  Scotland: 
with  the  understanding  that  the  place  was  in  reality  given  to  his  father.  Hugh 
Smith  soon  returned  to  this  country,  and  his  father,  Rev.  James  Smith,  was 
appointed  Consul  to  Dundee,  Scotland,  which  place  he  held  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Glasgow,  where  he  is  buried  in  the  same  grave 
with  his  father  and  mother  in  the  family  burying  ground.  My  grandmother 
went  to  be  with  my  grandfather  shortly  after  his  appointment,  but  was  here  in 
the  United  States  on  a  visit  to  her  children  when  he  died.  She  is  buried  at  Oak 
Ridge  with  four  of  her  daughters  here  in  Springfield.  While  at  a  cousin's 
recently,  I  read  a  letter  from  his  secretary  in  Scotland,  telling  of  his  illness  and 
death,   and  he  remarks  about  his  big  heart  and  big  brain  of  unusual  intellect. 

By   his    grand-daughter, 

January,    1926.  JEANETTE    E.    SMITH. 


Burial  Place  and  Monument  of  Rev.  James  Smith,  D.  D..  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land.     The    Inscription    reads: 

"Rev.  James  Smith,  D.  D.  Son  of  Peter  and  Margaret  Smith,  was  born 
at  Glasgow,  May  11,  A.  D..  179S.  A  minister  of  the  gospel  for  forty  years 
in  the  United  State  of  America.  In  his  declining  years  he  was  appointed 
U.  S.  Consul  at  Dundee  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  pastor  he  had  been: 
and   he   departed   this   life   July   3,   A.   D..    1871.      A   Sinner   Saved    by   Grace." 

At  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Smith  the  order  of  the  procession  was  as  follows: 
U.  S.  Consul;  Dr.  Smith's  funeral  Cortege;  detachment  of  police:  town 
officers;  hearse  with  military  on  either  side;  chief  mourners:  magistrates 
and  town  consul,  with  naval  officers  on  either  side:  Chamber  of  Commerce; 
public   bodies   and   other   civilians,    four   deep;    detachment   of   police. 

Thus  was  he  highly  honored  at  his  decease.  The  facts  and  pictures 
are  furnished  by  Dr.  Smith's  grand-daughters.  Miss  Jeanette  E.  Smith;  Mrs. 
N.    W.    Edwards,    and    grandson,    Mr.    B.    H.    Smith 


"BEAUTIFUL  JANE  TODD" 
AS  MRS.  WILLIAM  MITCHELL 


CHAPTER  XII 


ht  !E%%m\  %%t'a\  *]§VL%txxLWxt%& 


CENE — A  cabin  in  the  woods  nearby  or  in  the  little  log  village  of 
Danville,  Ky.,  in  the  month  of  February,  1785.  A  bunch  of  young- 
sters in  coon  skin  caps  and  untanned  leather  trousers  gathered  shy 
and  giggling,  about  the  door,  shrugging  their  shoulders  and  stamping 
their  feet  to  keep  warm.  They  nudged  and  pushed  each  other  with  juvenile  en- 
ergy and  mischief  and  if  any  girls  were  there  they  were  jostled  with  the  rest. 
They  all  looked  toward  the  door  with  some  dread.  Directly  it  opened  and  a  tall, 
dignified  Presbyterian  minister  called  pleasantly: 

"Come  in,   children." 

They  entered  obediently,  mechanically,  and  without  a  word,  standing  con- 
fused in  the  middle  of  the  small  room  before  the  open  fire  place.  Some  of  the 
minister's  own  children  eyed  the  newcomers  timidly. 

"Lay  your  caps  here,"  said  a  sweet-faced,  motherly  woman,  evidently  the 
wife  of  the  minister,   relieving  the  awkward  urchins  of  their  primitive  headgear. 

"Have  seats  here,"  said  the  minister,  motioning  to  some  improvised  slab 
benches    arranged   about   the    room. 

There  were  no  text  books  except  those  in  his  possession,  and  the  eager 
youngsters  with  rumpled  hair  and  ruddy  cheeks  never  took  their  eyes  off  the 
tall,  awesome  preacher  who  was  to  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  knowledge.  They 
did  glance  about  anxiously  to  see  if  he  had  a  bunch  of  beech  rods  to  rule  the 
roost;  but  seeing  nothing  of  the  sort  they  returned  to  their  first,  instinctive 
feeling  that  it  would  be  a  bold  boy  or  girl  indeed  who  dared  disobey  such  a 
solemn,    dignified   master   of   ceremonies    as   that. 

Anyhow,  in  half  an  hour  they  were  listening  in  open  mouthed  wonder  as 
he  taught  them  the  three  R's,  and  other  subjects  familiar  to  the  juvenile  mind  of 
long  ago.  The  good  minister's  wife  was  ever  ready  to  assist  with  word  or  smile, 
and  the  urchins  took  no  note  of  the  lapse  of  time.  The  teacher  was  Father  David 
Rice  and  the  school  "Transylvania  Seminary,"  so  called  to  soften  and  refine  the 
first  backwoods   school   in   the   State   of   Kentucky. 

Memories  of  his  own  solemn  boyhood  came  back  as  the  good  man  guided  the 
feet  of  tender  youth  along  the  path  of  knowledge.  He  felt  a  great  and  noble 
sympathy  for  every  child  growing  up  in  ignorance  around  him.  He  recalled  how 
his  grandfather,  Thomas  Rice,  had  come  to  Virginia  as  a  colonial  adventurer, 
and  established  himself  on  a  small  farm  in  Hanover  County.  Returning  to  Eng- 
land to  claim  an  estate  which  had  been  left  to  him,  he  was  murdered  on  ship- 
board. The  sailors  said  he  had  died  at  sea;  but  his  family  and  friends  always 
believed  he  met  with  foul  play. 

"My  father  was  left  in  poverty  with  his  widowed  mother  and  a  large  fam- 
ily of  children,"  said  the  teacher  in  the  afternoon  when  the  lessons  were  over. 
"But  the  Lord   never  allows  his  own  to  perish.   They   were   provided   for,    some- 


60 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


Monument  to  Father  David  Rice,  Danville,  Kentucky,  first  Great  Eman- 
cipator, buried  near  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell,  famous  "Father  of  Ovariot- 
omy," the  first  great  surgeon  of  abdominal  diseases.  In  the  classic  old 
cemetery  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  The  bones  of  Father  Rice 
were  removed  from  an  obscure  caibin  home  family  burial  ground  down  in 
Green  County  by  Rev.  E.  M.  Green,  D.  D.,  of  Danville.  45  years  ago.  by 
order  of  the  two  Synods  of  Kentucky.  The  bones  of  Mrs.  Rice  were  partly 
recovered    and    reburied    at    Danville. 

A  full  and  thrillingi  account  of  this  historic  removal  and  reburial  is 
given  in  the  Companion  volume,  "The  Light  Bearers,"  in  the  chapter  called 
"The    Mantle    of   Elijah." 

A  notable  group  of  Pioneer  Baptist  Emancipators  were  contemporaneous 
with  Father  Rice  in  Kentucky.  Dr.  J.  H.  Spencer,  the  Baptist  historian, 
enumerates  them:  Cornelius  Duese,  John  Murphy,  John  H.  Owen,  Elijah 
Davidson  and  Carter  Tarrant,  in  Green  River  Association,  where  Father 
David  Rice  lived  and  died.  Joshua  Carman,  Josiah  Dodge  and  Thomas 
Whitman  preached  with  power  against  slavery  in  the  Salem  Association. 
William  Hickman,  John  Sutton,  William  Buckley.  Donald  Holmes.  George 
Smith,  George  Stokes  Smith  and  David  Barrow  bore  witness  against  slavery 
in  the  Elkhorn  and  Bracken  Associations.  Carter  Tarrant  wrote  a  history 
of  the  Baptist  Emancipators.  He  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  died  as  an 
army  chaplain  in  New  Orleans  during  the  War  of  1S12.  David  Barrow  was 
the  most  distinguished  preacher  among  the  Baptist  Emancipators.  He  was 
a  Hero  of  the  Cross  on  the  border.  Born  in  Virginia  in  1753.  on  the  farm, 
he  was  largely  self-educated.  He  was  converted  at  sixteen  and  licensed  ana 
ordained  in  1771.  He  served  in  the  Revolution  for  one  enlistment  and  then 
returned  to  preaching.  In  1778  a  mob  oif  young  Episcopal  high-blood  rough- 
necks attacked  and  ducked  Mr.  Barrow  in  Virginia  till  he  was  nearly 
drowned.  Obscene  songs  were  sung  when  he  had  given  out  a  hymn  am] 
the  crowd  assembled  to  hear  him  was  terrorized.  But  a  solemn  fate  soon 
befell  some  of  the  ruffians.  Mr.  Barrow  had  a  vision  of  universal  liberty 
while  fighting  for  American  Independence.  He  liberated  his  slaves:  and 
came  to  Kentucky  in  1798.  He  was  wise  and  reasonable  in  his  emancipation 
preaching-:  but  in  the  excitement  and  persecution  lie  was  excluded  from 
church  fellowship  and  gathered  "the  friends  of  humanity"  into  a  small  but 
impressive  Association  of  Churches.  He  wrote  a  pamphlet  of  64  pages 
against  slavery  and  deserved  rank  beside  Father  Rice.  His  efforts  were 
regarded   as   fruitless   but   he   bore    withness   to   Freedom.      He    died    in    1S19. 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  61 

how,  and  my  father  became  a  humble  farmer  with  food  and  raiment  for  his  family 
and  was  therewith  content.  He  never  owned  a  slave.  My  father  and  mother 
were  opposed  to  slavery.  She  taught  me  that  it  was  wrong  to  buy  and  sell 
human  flesh.      She  hated  the  injustice  done  to  our   fellow  creatures." 

The  children  listened  with  bated  breath  and  the  minister's  eyes  burned 
with  a  peculiar  fire  at  this  reference  to  human  slavery.  Then  his  voice  softened 
and  he  went   on: 

"My  father  and  mother  were  godly  people.  They  taught  me  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  the  Commandments  almost  before  I  can  remember.  When  I  was  only 
six  or  seven  years  old  I  prayed  earnestly  to  be  saved.  Many  times  I  would  weep 
in  secret;  and  after  two  years  I  thought  I  had  found  the  Lord.  I  was  very  happy 
for  a  while. 

"When  I  was  a  boy  back  in  Old  Virginia  people  did  not  keep  the  Sabbath 
holy  as  they  should.  They  would  take  a  bath  and  change  their  clothes,  and  after 
reading  the  Bible  a  little  would  go  off  to  hunt  and  fish  and  have  their  pleasure 
in  sin.  I  knew  this  was  wrong,  and  one  day  I  went  to  see  a  boy  friend  of  mine. 
I  told  him  how  we  ought  to  pray  and  meditate  and  read  God's  holy  word  and 
asked  him  to  go  with  me  into  the  woods  apart  where  we  could  meet  God  alone. 

"He  laughed  and  made  a  bargain  with  me  that  if  I  would  play  ball  with 
him  he  would  then  do  as  I  wished.  I  consented  with  a  heavy  heart,  but  he  broke 
his  word  and  went  on  his  way.  I  begged  him  with  tears  to  repent,  but  he  would 
not,    for   Satan   had  hardened  his  heart. 

"When  I  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age  I  felt  a  deeper  conviction  of  sin 
than  ever  and  the  need  of  being  born  again.  I  prayed  seven  times  a  day,  but 
became  more  miserable  than  before.  I  saw  my  love  of  self.  I  realized  my  lost 
condition  and  cried  to  God  again  for  mercy.  I  was  on  the  brink  of  despair.  I 
groped  in  darkness  until  the  grace  of  God  opened  my  blinded  eyes  and  enabled 
me  to  see  my  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  Today,  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice, 
harden  not  your  hearts.  My  little  children,  He  calls  you  now;  obey  His  warning 
and  His  word  before  it  is  too  late!" 

The  minister  stood  tall  and  solemn  in  the  winter  twilight.  A  ray  of  red- 
dish golden  light  illumined  his  saintly  countenance  as  he  closed  the  school  with 
prayer  and  dismissed  the  children  with  his  blessing.  His  manner  was  tragic  in 
its  melancholy  solemnity.  The  little  folks  left  the  room  awed  and  subdued  into 
a  silence  painful  and  depressing  beyond  words  to  tell  by  this  mounrful  story  of 
boyhood  in  the  long  ago. 

For  three  memorable  years  Father  Rice  and  his  good  wife  taught  the  little 
school  at  Danville.  Whenever  be  was  away  on  his  preaching  tours  Mother  Rice 
with  signal  ability  and  success  instructed  the  children.  She  was  a  minister's 
daughter  and  a  woman  of  unusual  character.  Father  Rice  had  met  her  in  his 
student  days  up  in  the  beautiful  Pennsylvania  mountains.  His  heart  went  out 
to  her  and  they  pledged  their  mutual  love.  He  was  not  able  to  wed  her  until 
he  was  ready  to  become  a  settled  pastor  in  Virginia.  She  then  became  unto  him 
a  staff  of  life  and  hope.  She  went  with  him  into  the  Kentucky  wilderness  and 
braved  all  the  terrors  of  Indian  attack,  privation  and  poverty,  and  sustained  her 
husband's  spirit   through   years   of  darkest   melancholy   and   despair. 

In  the  little  school  room  of  their  humble  cabin  home  she  told  the  Bible 
stories  over  and  over  to  the  charmed  ears  of  the  little  ones.  She  reared  and  trained 
eleven  children  of  her  own  and  saw  every  one  of  them,   without  a  single  exception. 


62 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


become  godly  men  and  women.  She  sought  out  the  young  people  of  the  commun- 
ity and  impressed  upon  them  noble  ideals  of  life.  Even  in  that  backwoods  time 
and  place  she  wrote  letters  of  love  and  counsel  to  all  her  husband's  flock  who 
were  in  trouble  of  mind  or  distress  of  body.  Men  and  women  in  every  walk 
of  life  came  gratefully  to  that  little  cabin  door  as  to  "The  House  By  the  Side 
of  the  Road."  No  man  knoweth  the  spot  of  its  location  today;  but  those  three 
immortal  years,  from  1785  to  1788,  laid  the  foundation  of  education,  culture 
and  character  in  the  State  of  Kentucky   for  generations  to  come. 


The  type  of  log  cabin  school  taught  by  Father  Rice  is  still  found  today  on 
the  farm  of  Mr.  John  Pierce,  near  Goshen.  This  cabin  held  a  school  of  this 
sort  for  many  years,    and  Presbyterian   preachers   and   teachers   who    afterward   be- 


Typical  Pioneer  Log-  School  House  of  100  years  ago. 
still  standing-  as  a  dwelling  o-n  the  farm  of  John  C.  Pierce 
near  Goshen,  Kentucky.  Tradition  says  that  Prof.  "Wm. 
H.  G.  Butler,  of  Hanover  CoUlege,  taught  here  some  years 
before  he  was  so  foully  murdered  in  Louisville  by  Matt 
Ward.  Other  notable  men  taught  in  this  little  Log  Cabin 
Academy. 


came  widely  known  sat  behind  the  wooden  desk  of  that  little  school  room  one 
hundred  years  ago.  This  school  near  Goshen  was  contemporaneous  with  the 
famous  Log  Cabin  Academy  conducted  in  the  old  Marrs  house  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Giltner  Snowden. 

But  another  impressive  thing  we  wish  to  mention  here  is  the  fact  that 
back  of  the  very  first  public  school  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  taught  by  Father 
Rice,  was  the  powerful  and  uplifting  force  of  Freemasonry.  Samuel  Daviess, 
of  Virginia,  Grand  Master  of  Kentucky  in  1826,  was  the  man  and  Mason  who 
brought  Father  Rice,  his  pastor,  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky  to  shepherd  the 
uncared-for  pioneers  and  to  teach  their  children  the  elements  of  English  and 
moral  character. 

There  is  something  sublime  in  contemplating  the  unity  of  the  Masonic 
Lodge  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oid  Virginia  in  planting   the  public  school 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  63 

in  the  wilds  of  Kentucky  long  ago.  This  unity  runs  back  to  Old  Scotland  where 
light  and  enlightenment  went  hand  in  hand  with  religion.  We  can  never  under- 
stand the  noble  dream  that  the  Grand  Lodge  of  this  State  had  in  establishing 
the  Masonic  Home  and  School  at  LaGrange  until  we  are  familiar  with  these 
early  chapters  in  the  history  of  education  when  our  State  was  young.  So  we  will 
close  this  account  with  a  brief  sketch  of  that  master  man  and  Master  Mason, 
Samuel  Daviess,   who  brought  Father  David  Rice  to  Kentucky: 

"Samuel  Daviess  was  a  brother  of  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess,  Grand  Master 
(1811)  who  fell  at  Tippecanoe.  The  Daviess  family  went  from  Scotland  to  the 
north  of  Ireland  where  they  took  refuge  from  persecutions.  Samuel's  father, 
Joseph  Daviess,  married  Jean  Hamilton  and  came  to  America,  making  their  home 
in  Bedford  county,  Virginia.  Thence  they  came  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  near 
Danville. 

"Samuel  Daviess  was  a  man  of  strong  character,  a  Presbyterian,  and  evi- 
dently devoted  to  his  church,  for  he  went  back  over  the  mountains  to  Virginia 
after  his  pastor,  Rev.  David  Rice,  whom  he  brought  to  Kentucky  on  horseback 
to  become  a  pioneer  of  Presbyterianism   here. 

"Samuel  was  educated  in  Harrodsburg,  and  became  a  practicing  lawyer, 
moved  to  that  place  and,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  took  charge  of  the  younger 
children,  whom  he  educated.  He  represented  his  district  in  the  Lower  House, 
afterwards  in  the  Senate  of  Kentucky,  a?.d  died  September  30,  1856,  aged  83 
years.  The  Grand  Lodge  in  noticing  his  death  declared:  'He  was  a  good  man, 
and  bore  himself  honorably  and  creditably,  and  was  an  excellent  example  to 
all  around  him.'" 

THE  COLLEGE  AND  UNIVERSITY 

President  Millis  of  Hanover,  discussing  recently  with  us  the  contemporary 
history  of  Hanover  and  the  Masonic  College  at  La  Grange,  Kentucky  (1845- 
1865),  said  that  "the  manual  labor  principle"  connected  with  these  colleges 
for  the  self-support  of  students,  suggested  itself  from  that  idea  in  the  social 
education  system  then  made  famous  in  Europe  by  certain  great  educational 
reformers;  and  he  said  that  this  "manual  labor  principle"  was  only  abandoned 
at  Hanover  College,  at  the  Masonic  University,  and  elsewhere  at  the  time  because 
the  cost  of  equipment  and  upkeep  was  very  expensive.  Hence  these  colleges 
became  purely  classic  institutions.  Yet  the  idea  of  a  technical  and  vocational 
training  for  youth  has  persisted  in  all  state  institutions  of  learning;  and  today 
there  is  a  strong  necessity  of  clarifying  the  minds  of  most  people  on  this  vital 
subject.  A  bit  of  Hanover  history  will  give  us  the  whole  thing  in  a  nutshell: 

"In  response  to  a  request  made  by  the  Presbytery  of  Salem,  which  then 
embraced  a  large  part  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  Rev.  John  Finley  Crowe  opened 
the  Hanover  Academy,  January  1,  1827,  in  a  log  cabin,  near  where  the  Pres- 
byterian church  of  Hanover  now  stands.  On  the  30th  of  December,  1828, 
the  Legislature  of  Indiana  passed  an  act  incorporating  Hanover  Academy.  In 
1829   this  academy  was  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  Indiana  as  a   Synodical   School. 

"The  field  of  higher  education  is  occupied  W  two  types  of  institution,  the 
College,  and  the  University  with  its  technical  schools.  These  types  differ 
with  reference  to  objects  and  methods.  The  University  seeks  to  make  an  expert, 
a    specialist,    an   authority.      It    proposes   to    take   the    indvidual    into    some   depart- 


64  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

ment  of  thought,  invention,  discovery  or  practice  and  make  him  a  master  In 
that  province.  The  keyword  in  University  education  is  the  training  of  special 
ability;  specialization.  The  College,  on  the  other  hand,  seeks  above  all  else 
to  make  a  man  of  the  individual.  It  proposes  to  give  him  such  general  training 
as  will  send  him  out  into  life  with  developed  and  well-balanced  powers,  with 
right  ideals  and  wholesome  enthusiasms.  The  University  is  chiefly  concerned 
with  what  he  can  do:  the  College  with  what  he  is.  The  College  recognizes  the 
demand  for  efficiency,  but  believes  that  ultimately  real  efficiency  can  be  secured 
only  upon  the  basis  of  the  broad  general  training  which  the  college  gives." 

JOHN    FINLEY    CROWE 

We  have  mentioned  certain  great  Anti-Slavery  men  because  the  Anti- 
Slavery  movement  in  Kentucky  history  has  been  so  neglected  until  recent  years. 
The  Filson  Club  in  1918  published  a  history  of  this  movement  by  Prof.  Asa 
Earl  Martin  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  Prof.  Martin  gathered  together 
a  wonderful  stock  of  material  and  covered  this  entire  movement  down  to  1850. 
He  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  greatest  undertakings  of  his  life;  and  the  book 
is  of  profound  interest.  We  feel  that  it  is  not  going  too  far  afield  to  mention 
these  early  day  Abolition  forces  and  leaders  that  surrounded  our  own  home 
county.  Hence  we  give  these  sketches  of  Dr.  Crowe,  who  was  a  very  disting- 
uished Abolitionist.      Prof.    Martin  says  of  him   and  his  periodical: 

"The  small  number  of  papers  which  would  allow  the  opponents  of  slavery 
to  set  before  the  people  the  arguments  against  the  system  was  one  of  the 
greatest  difficulties  that  the  anti-slavery  workers  had  to  contend  with;  since 
the  columns  of  the  newspapers,  especially  in  the  States  south  of  the  Mason  and 
Dixon  Line,  were  as  a  rule  closed  to  all  anti-slavery  discussions.  The  Kentucky 
Abolition  Society,  therefore,  determined  to  establish  at  Shelbyville  a  semi- 
monthly anti-slavery  paper  under  the  editorship  of  Rev.  John  Finley  Crowe. 
By  way  of  prospectus,  proposals  enumerating  the  principles  of  the  society,  with 
extracts  from  its  constitution,  were  sent  to  various  periodicals  for  publication. 
The  first  number  of  the  paper,  which  was  called  the  Abolition  Intelligencer 
and  Missionary  Magazine  appeared  in  May,  1822,  as  a  monthly  instead  of  a 
semi-monthly,  as  stated  in  the  proposals. 

"Each  number  of  the  Abolition  Intelligencer  and  Missionary  Magazine 
contained  sixteen  pages,  the  first  eight  of  which  were  devoted  wholly  to  a 
discussion  of  slavery  and  the  last  eight  to  missions.  The  historical  value  of  such 
a  paper  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It  was  a  repository  for  all  plans  for  'he 
abolition  of  slavery,  for  all  laws,  opinions,  arguments,  essays,  speeches,  reviews, 
statistics,  congressional  proceedings,  notices  of  books  and  pamphlets,  colonization 
efforts,  political  movements — in  short,   for  every  thing  that  related  to  slavery. 

"There  were  just  two  anti-slavery  papers  published  in  the  United  States 
at  that  time,  one.  the  Abolition  Intelligencer  and  Missionary  Magazine,  the 
oth"r,  Lundy's  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation.  It  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  both  of  these  papers  were  published  west  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains. 
This  is  true  of  every  anti-slavery  paper  published  before   1826." 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  65 

DR.  CROWE  AND  DR.  BLACKBURN 

The  following  sketch  of  Dr.  Crowe  is  taken  from  the  Presbyterian  Ency- 
clopedia. Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn  of  the  Goshen  church  was  equally  strong 
against  slavery  but  was  an  Emancipationist.  He  became  President  of  Centre 
College  at  Danville  when  Dr.   Crowe  began  his  great   work  at  Hanover. 

"Crowe,  John  Finley,  D.  D.,  the  second  son  of  Benj.  Crowe,  a  soldier 
and  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War  from  Virginia,  was  born  June  16th,  1787, 
in  Green  county,  Tennessee,  then  a  frontier  settlement  of  North  Carolina.  In 
1802  his  father  removed  to  Bellevue,  Mo.  He  attended  Transylvania  University, 
Ky.,  1811-12;  was  a  student  at  Princeton  Seminary  1814-15;  licensed  1816, 
and  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  1817  by  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.  He 
labored  as  pastor,  editor  and  teacher  in  Kentucky  till  1823,  when  he  removed 
to  Hanover,  Indiana,  and  became  the  pastor  of  that  church.  Was  pastor  there 
from    1823   to    1834,   and  stated  supply   from    183  8   to    1847. 

"In  1827  he  founded  Hanover  Academy,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Madison 
Presbytery,  which  in  183  3  became  Hanover  College.  He  continued  in  connec- 
tion with  this  institution  as  teacher,  professor  and  vice  president  till  his  death, 
January  17,  1860.  He  was  the  editor  and  manager  of  the  "Abolition  Intelli- 
gencer and  Missionary  Magazine,"  published  at  Shelbyville,  Kentucky,  one  of 
the  earliest  magazines  of  the  kind  published  in  this  country,  in  1822-23;  and 
left  a  MS.  History  of  Hanover  College. 

"Dr.  Crowe  was  a  faithful,  humble  and  successful  preacher  and  pastor, 
was  devoted  to  his  work,  and  his  labors  were  frequently  blessed  with  revivals. 
He  was  a  worthy  companion  of  Johnson,  Dickey,  Martin  and  others  in  the 
pioneer  mission  work  in  Southern  Indiana.  His  great  work  was  the  founding 
and  fostering  of  Hanover  College,  to  which  institution  he  gave  all  his  energies 
and  wisdom  for  a  third  of  a  century.  During  his  last  sickness  he  frequently 
repeated  the  words  of  II  Timothy  1-2,  'I  know  whom  I  have  believed,'  etc., 
and  by  the  faith  of  the  gospel  gained  a  triumph  over  death.  Two  of  his 
sons  became  ministers,  and  four  of  his  daughters  became  ministers'  wives,  one 
of  whom  was  a  missionary  to  China." 


CHAPTER  XIII 


|Jaf men  M®hn  Qf&hb  mtb  ttft  ^h^tltmi^wn 


/^  "1    NDER    the    date    of    August    21,     1909,     we    received    the    following 

^»  I  letter    from    Mr.    John    A.    H.    Owens,    of    the    Charlestown,    Ind.r 

Ijl  Presbyterian     church,     inquiring     for    facts    about     the    early    history 

of    Parson    John    Todd,    the    famous    old    pioneer    preacher    in    those 

parts   whose   idendity   and   story   so   long   baffled   us.    Mr.    Owens   said: 

"Our  county  (Clark)  was  the  second  organized  in  the  State  (Indiana)  : 
and  most  of  the  land  included  in  the  present  bounds  of  the  county  was  given 
to  the  soldiers  of  George  Rogers  Clark. 

"We  had  in  early  days  many  citizens  who  loved  God  and  their  fellow-men, 
and  who  never  faltered  in  the  work  of  establishing  churches  and  schools  and 
turning  the  wilderness  into  a  home  for  the  distressed  of  all  nations. 

"We  of  the  younger  generation  have  taken  great  pleasure  in  delving  in  the 
time-worn  records  of  the  past  and  getting  all  the  light  we  could  on  the 
lives  and  works  of  the  heroic  men  and  women  of  the  pioneer  days. 

"Among  the  foremost  of  our  men  was  Parson  Todd,  a  man  who  was 
loved  and  honored  by  all.  The  men  and  women  who  knew  him  are  now 
sleeping  in  our  cemetery  and  have  carried  with  them  the  unwritten  story  of  the 
good   parson. 

"He  was  an  educated  man  who  gave  his  talents  toward  establishing  Chris- 
tianity and  Education  on  a  firm  basis  in  Clark's  Grant.  We  know  of  him 
while  he  was  with  us,  but  we  would  like  to  have  some  information  as  to 
his  birth,  ancestry,  youth,  and  life  after  he  left  Charlestown.  Also  of  his  death 
and  final  resting  place. 

"We  wish  to  place  this  information  in  our  records  where  we  can  read  it, 
and  where  our  children  and  children's  children  may  have  the  brief  story  of  one 
who   did   much    to    make    the   world   brighter    and   better. 

"The  Rev.  Excel  Fry,  promising  young  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  this  town,  has  given  us  information  that  leads  us  to  hope  that  we 
may  receive  through  you  much  that  will  be  of  interest  to  us." 

It  was  the  occasion  of  the  centennial  of  the  Charlestown  church,,  end 
Rev.  Mr.  Fry  had  talked  to  us  about  tracing  the  Parson  Todd  story.  We  had 
it  from  our  mother  that  the  old  Woolfolk  homestead  at  Goshen,  where  we 
were  born,  was  the  pioneer  home  of  a  family  of  Kentucky  Todds  and  that 
they  were  close  relatives  of  Parson  Todd.  There  was  a  grave  of  a  certain  J.  T. 
in  the  old  burying  ground;  and  our  mother  remembered  long  ago  in  her  child- 
hood how  some  member  of  the  family  was  brought  back   and  interred   there. 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  67 

THE   JANE   TODD  ROMANCE 

Then,  too,  there  was  the  romance  of  "Beautiful  Jane  Todd"  and  Samuel 
Snowden;  and  we  might  have  spoken  to  Samuel  Snowden  himself  while  he 
was  alive  about  this  hidden  tragedy  of  the  heart.  But  who  would  have  dared? 
We  stood  in  such  awe  of  him;  and  he  perhaps  would  have  told  us  not  to 
meddle  with  what  did  not  concern  us.  So  we  were  not  able  to  gratify  young 
Pastor  Fry  of  the  Charlestown  church  with  any  definite  facts  about  Parson  Todd 
or  his  people. 

The  years  passed  on  and  our  county  history  was  written.  We  finally 
got  the  courage  to  delve  into  the  Jane  Todd  Samuel  Snowden  romance  through 
a  niece  of  Mr.  Snowden's,  our  own  dear  cousin,  Mrs.  Lavinia  Gross,  of  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  whose  mother  gave  her  the  facts  first  hand.  And  our  own  mother 
verified  the  facts  from  what  her  elders  told  her  in  early  childhood  about  this 
locally  famous  and  fascinating  love  story.  We  even  got  the  loan  of  a  young 
girl's  photograph,  or  rather  daguerreotype,  once  possessed  by  Samuel  Snowden, 
which  was  supposed  to  be  that  of  "Beautiful  Jane  Todd."  This  picture  was 
accidently  destroyed  in  the  photograph  gallery  of  the  Indiana  Reformatory  at 
Jeffersonville,  when  we  were  chaplain  there,  and  led  us  to  make  a  tireless 
search  for  any  surviving  relatives  of  Jane  Todd.  We  thus  discovered  that  grand 
old  lady,  Mrs.  Mary  Louise  Gibson,  of  Newport,  Ky.,  niece  of  Jane  Todd; 
and  thus  we  got  on  the  trail  of  Parson  Todd's  people  at  last. 

THE  OLDHAM  TODDS 

In  brief,  to  quote  our  chapter  on  "The  Lincoln  Todds  in  Oldham  County," 
published  September  7,  1923:  "We  know  that  Col.  John  Todd  (who  was 
one  of  the  bravest  campaigners  with  George  Rogers  Clark)  was  a  nephew 
and  namesake  of  Rev.  John  Todd,  Sr.,  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  Our 
Parson  John  Todd,  Jr.,  who  did  so  much  for  education  in  Clark  and  Oldham 
counties  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  was  a  son  and  namesake  of  this  Rev. 
John  Todd,  Sr.  He  was  therefore  a  first  cousin  of  Col.  John  Todd,  General 
Robert  Todd,  and  General  Levi  Todd,  grandfather  of  Mary  Todd  Lincoln, 
who  was  granted  a  tract  of  land  across  the  river  in  Clark  county  for  services 
rendered   with   his   brothers   in   Clark's   campaigns. 

"Now  it  seems  that  besides  Owen  Todd,  another  brother,  who  was  also  a 
first  cousin  of  our  Parson  John  Todd,  there  was  yet  another  brother,  Samuel 
Todd,  Jr.  This  Samuel  Todd  was  sheriff  of  Boutetourt  county,  Virginia,  in 
1791  and  1792.  He  was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  about  the  year 
173  8  and  died  in  Boutetourt  county,  Va.,  in  the  year  1812.  He  was  the  father 
of  Judge  Samuel  Todd  of  Frankfort,  Ky. 

"This  Judge  Samuel  Todd  was  born  in  Rockbridge  county,  Va.,  in  1777. 
This  Samuel  Todd,  Sr.,  and  Jr.,  were  the  great-grandfather  and  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Mary  Louise  Gibson,  of  Newport,  Ky.,  who  has  given  us  all  we  know 
of  the  Todds  in  Oldham  county.  Mrs.  Gibson  is  certain  that  these  Todds 
were  all  cousins  of  Mary  Todd  Lincoln,  which  is  abundantly  proved  through 
the  fact  that  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Todd  (a  cousin  of  her  grandfather  and  author  of  a 
Todd  family  history)  was  a  grandson  of  Owen  Todd,  a  great  uncle  of  Mrs. 
Lincoln. 


68 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


"These  facts  give  to  the  old  Todd- Woolf oik  homestead  near  Goshen  a  new 
historic  interest  that  will  increase  as  the  years  go  by.  Beautiful  Jane  Todd's 
father,  Major  John  Todd,  bought  the  old  Todd-Woolfolk  home  place  near 
Goshen  of  Ambrose  Camp,  July  1,  1813.  It  consisted  of  341  acres  on  Huckle- 
berry Run.  Major  John  Todd  was  at  this  time  a  trustee  of  the  city  of 
Louisville.  Being  a  son  of  Samuel  Todd,  Jr.,  of  Boutetourt  county,  Va.,  he  was 
a  near  cousin  of  Mrs.   Lincoln." 

This  man  Ambrose  Camp,  from  whom  Major  John  Todd  bought  the 
farm,  was  an  early  pioneer,  who  married  a  sister  of  Lilberne  Magruder,  of 
Goshen,   Ky.,   and  then  moved  down  to  the  Pond  Settlement  below   Louisville. 


CHARLESTOWN,    INDIANA,    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 


PARSON  TODD'S  PASTORATE 

From  our  earliest  boyhood  we  remember  a  tombstone  in  the  old  Todd 
burying  ground  on  the  hill  of  this  farm  that  bore  the  letters  "J.  T.."  roughly 
chiseled  in  outline.  It  was  before  any  marble  stones  were  in  use.  It  now 
seems  most  probable  that  this  J.  T.  was  Major  John  Todd,  owner  of  the 
farm,  as  the  burial  place  was  established  while  he  lived  there.  The  farm  was  sold 
by   him    in    after   years    to   Francis    Snowdcn,    uncle    of    Samuel    Snowden    and    was 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  69 

purchased  of  Francis  Snowden  by  Jefferson  Woolfolk  in  1835.  Our  mother  is 
quite  sure  that  Parson  John  Todd  spent  a  lot  of  his  time  at  this  old  home- 
stead while  pastor  at  Chralestown  and  Goshen.  Her  mother,  who  was  a 
Charlestown  girl,  spoke  constantly  of  Parson  Todd;  and  the  records  of  the 
Charlestown  church  show  that  before  the  Goshen  church  was  formally  organized 
by  Gideon  Blackburn,  there  were  a  number  of  Presbyterians  on  this  side  of 
the  river  whose  names  were  on  the  Charlestown  roll  and  were  evidently  parishion- 
ners  in  Parson  Todd's  flock. 

The  references  to  Mr.  Todd  in  the  Charlestown  church  history  are  as 
follows: 

"The  first  minister  who  had  charge  of  the  church  was  Rev.  John  Todd, 
familiarly  known  as  'Parson  Todd.'  Where  he  came  from  or  whither  he  went 
is  unknown.  He  came  out  of  the  mists  of  obscurity,  labored  for  a  few  years 
in  Charlestown,  and  then  disappears  into  the  shadows  again  and  vanished  from 
sight.  Judging  from  work  in  Charlestown,  however,  he  did  good  work 
wherever  he  went,  for  he  was  a  man  greatly  beloved,  not  only  in  the  church 
but  in  the  community,  and  under  his  ministry  the  church  grew  and  developed 
steadily.  He  probably  began  his  ministry  here  in  1815  or  1816  and  closed 
it  in  September,  1824  Tradition  says  he  was  a  relative  of  the  celebrated  John 
Todd  of  Virginia." 

PARSON   TODD   THE   EDUCATOR 

Again  we  read:  "The  Rev.  John  Todd,  or  'Parson  Todd,'  as  he  was 
called,  lived  in  what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Mr.  Solon  Young  home,  half 
a  mile  south  of  town,  on  the  Ohio  River  road.  Here  for  a  number  of  years, 
he  kept  a  select  private  school,  the  pupils  meeting  in  the  parlor  for  recitations. 
He  was  said  to  have  been  a  successful  and  inspiring  teacher.  This  school  was 
the  germ  of  Barnett  Academy. 

"Mr.  Todd's  study  was  in  the  attic  of  the  house,  whence  the  elevation 
above  the  earth  and  proximity  to  heaven  gave  that  unworldliness  and  spirituality 
to  the  Parson's  sermons  for  which  they  were  noted.  This  old  historic  house 
was  destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years  ago." 


TRAGEDY  OF  PARSON  TODD'S  MINISTRY 

On  page  276  of  Davidson's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Kentucky, 
we  read  that  Rev.  John  Todd  came  to  Kentucky  from  the  Hanover  Presbytery 
of  Virginia  in  1809,  when  he  became  a  member  of  the  Transylvania  Presbytery. 
He  sided  with  the  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  who  was  under  censure  for 
doctrinal  views  at  variance  with  strict  Presbyterian  standards.  Dr.  Davidson 
says  that  Mr.  Todd  was  persistent  in  defending  and  disseminating  the  teachings 
of  Mr.  Craighead,  and  as  a  consequence  "was  tried  by  the  Presbytery  of  Trans- 
ylvania August  14,  1812,  convicted  and  solemnly  admonished.  As  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  and  teach  his  errors  notwithstanding,  the  Presbytery,  agreeably 
to  advice  of  Synod,  obtained  in  the  interim,  suspended  him  April  15,  1813. 
Mr.  Todd  appealed  to  the  Synod  but  in  vain.  In  1817  (October  11)  he  took 
a  sober  second  thought   recanted  and   was  restored." 


70  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

The  Rev.  Edward  L.  Warren,  D.  D.,  of  Louisville,  in  his  Centennial 
Address  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  in  1916,  makes  a  very  concise  and  inter- 
esting reference  to  Rev.  John  Todd: 

"Another  interesting  character  who  took  part  with  these  missionaries  (into 
the  Territory  and  State  of  Indiana)  was  Rev.  John  Todd,  who  came  to 
Louisville  from  Old  Hanover  Presbytery  and  had  been  associated  in  his  youth 
with  Rev.  James  Waddell,  David  Rice  and  Archibald  Alexander.  Falling  into 
the  error  of  Graighead,  Mr.  Todd  was  deposed  from  the  ministry  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Transylvania,  but  upon  his  restoration  entered  actively  upon  missionary 
work  under  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in  the  region  of  Charlestown,   Indiana." 

It  would  thus  seem  certain  that  Mr.  Todd  came  to  Louisville  Presbytery 
after  his  restoration  in  October,  1817,  and  probably  began  his  missionary  and 
pastoral  labors  around  Charlestown,  and  possibly  around  Goshen,  in  the  winter 
of  1817-18;  or  else,  if  he  was  not  received  into  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
until  the  spring  meeting  of  1818,  he  may  have  been  that  long  entering 
on  his  authorized  home  mission  ministry  in  and  around  Charlestown.  Rev. 
Dr.  Warren  says  that  John  Todd  was  "the  ablest  Greek  scholar  in  our  midst," 
thus   commending   very   highly   his    work   as   a   teacher. 

Dr.  Davidson  says  that  the  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead  was  a  man  of 
eloquence  and  fervor  but  that  his  preaching  of  the  New  Light  doctrines  involved 
him  in  a  very  unhappy  controversy  with  the  Presbytery  and  Synod.  Like  Mr. 
Todd,  he  was  restored  to  his  ministerial  standing  in  his  seventieth  year  when 
old  and  poor. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

2s*tt»  ^ntHHintf  p£  lift  C§1&  &^a%\tmk&m\x 

/^    T   is   fitting   to    make   some    record,    in    these    centennial    annals    of    old 
^m  VJ         Presbyterian   churches   in   Southern    Indiana    and   Kentucky,    regarding 
X^    J         the    gifted    and    distinguished    first    Governor    of    the    Hoosier    State; 
the   man   who    fulfilled    the   sacred    compact   of   Thomas    Jefferson    to 
make  the  Northwest   Territory   forever   free   from   African   slavery;    the   man   who 
unified  and  crystalized   the  Freesoil   sentiment   of  the   great   Anti-Slavery   preachers 
in    the   Louisville   Presbytery,    and    who,    indeed,    anticipated    and    set    the    pace    for 
Old    Louisville    Presbytery    in    getting    rid    of    the    institution    across    the    river. 
This    noted    man    and    Freemason,     Jonathan      Jennings,      lived      at      Charlestown 
throughout  the  pastorate  of   "Parson   Todd"    and  is  believed  by   the  present   gen- 
eration   of    Presbyterians    there    to    have    had    a    strong    hand    in    the    organization 
of    the    church    at    that    time.       Clerk    of    Session    W.    S.    Hikes    wrote    us    under 
date  of  January  28,    1925,  as  follows: 

"Dear  Brother  Rule: 

"I  am  sending  you  today  the  History  of  the  Charlestown  Presbyterian 
Church.  I  felt  that  it  ought  to  be  made  record  of  by  the  Presbytery  or  Synod 
in  order  to  preserve  it  more  completely  and  surely  than  it  could  be  done  by 
out  own  church,  as  we  have  had  the  misfortune  to  be  burned  out  once  completely; 
and  again  our  records  were  charred  so  we  had  to  rewrite  them  entirely. 

"I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  Rev.  F.  M.  Hurst's  suggestion  in  regard 
to  our  first  Governor,  Jonathan  Jennings,  that  his  father,  being  a  Presbyterian 
minister  back  in  Pennsylvania  and  having  educated  his  son  in  a  Presbyterian 
school,  would  more  than  likely  have  influenced  him  (the  son)  to  be  among  the 
promoters  and  organizers  of  the  Charlestown  Presbyterian  Church.  And  while 
we  have  no  records  to  show  that  he  did,  the  fact  that  his  residence  here  in 
Charlestown  in  1807.  and  that  he  married  Miss  Anna  Hay,  together  with  the 
fact  that  the  Hays  were  members  of  our  church  up  to  the  latter  part  of  the 
last  century,  gives  us  a  reasonable  right  to  believe  that  it  was  organized  earlier 
than  the  records  actually  show,  or  rather  earlier  than  the  minutes  of  Presby- 
tery show. 

"The  church  must  have  been  in  existence,  and  with  enough  members  then 
for  the  Presbytery  to  take  notice  and  accept  them,  and  give  them  in  charge 
of  a  minister.  You  will  please  return  our  history  when  you  have  copied 
what  you  think  is  important  enough  to  go  on  record;  and  if  it  is  not  too 
much  trouble.  I  would  like  for  you  to  send  me  a  copy  of  what  you  have 
considered  worthy  of  permanent  record.  Thanking  you  for  your  kind  interest 
in   this   work,    I   am   yours   truly, 

W.    S.    HIKES." 


72  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

INVESTIGATION  BY  PASTOR  HURST 

Now  the  Rev.  F.  M.  Hurst  was  pastor  of  Charlestown  some  years  ago 
when  they  celebrated  their  centennial  or  organization.  He  prepared  a  very 
interesting  and  able  historic  paper  on  the  subject  in  hand,  from  which  we 
make  a  substantial  quotation: 

"There  is  no  known  record  of  the  Charlestown  Presbyterian  Church  that 
goes  back  of  1820;  and  this  fixed  1812  as  the  year  in  which  the  congregation 
was  organized,  but  the  day  and  month  are  not  given. 

"The  Minutes  of  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  have  the  following  entry 
made  April  11,  1812:  'Mr.  Vance  informed  Presbytery  that  a  small  congrega- 
tion exists  in  Charlestown  and  its  vicinity  in  the  Indiana  Territory,  which 
congregation  having  requested  him  to  make  them  known  to  Presbytery  and 
solicit  their  care  and  attention,  Mr.  Todd  was  appointed  to  supply  said  con- 
gregation as  much  of  his  time  as  he  may  find  convenient,  and  also  that  he, 
with  Mr.  Lapsley,  administer  the  sacrament  at  Charlestown  as  soon  as  they  find 
it  convenient.' 

"Just  who  Mr.  Vance  was  is  problematical,  but  perhaps  he  was  a  Presby- 
terian minister,  as  he  does  not  seem  to  be  representing  the  congregation  as  an 
elder.  But  anyway  he  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  congregation  before 
April   11,   1812.     Just  how  long  before  is  a  question  that  we  can  not  answer." 

JAMES    VANCE 

Now  in  regard  to  this  Mr.  Vance  (who  accompanied  "Parson"  John  Todd 
into  Indiana  Territory  as  a  home  missionary  while  Transylvania  Presbytery 
included  practically  all  the  region  of  the  Ohio  river  valley,  as  this  same  section 
was  embraced  by  Louisville  Presbytery,  organized  in  1816),  we  have  his  identity 
from  Rev.  Edward  L.  Warren,  D.  D.,  historian  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville. 
U.  S.  A. 

"James  Vance,"  says  Dr.  Warren,  "was  of  the  Virginia  type  and  settled 
on  Beargrass  Creek,  at  Middletown,  where  he  opened  a  school,  in  which 
many  men  afterward  prominent  in  the  Church  were  trained,  among  whom 
were  Rev.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  First  Church  in  Cincinnati,  and 
Rev.  J.  J.  Bullock,  D.  D.,  afterwards  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  in 
Kentucky   and   Chaplain   of  the  United   States  Senate. 

"In  1799  Mr.  Vance  was  ordained  pastor  of  Middletown  and  Pennsylvania 
Run  churches,  the  latter  being  the  oldest  church  in  Louisville  Presbytery,  being 
mentioned  in  the  records  of  Presbytery  as  early  as  1789.  The  Minutes  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  make  mention  of  his  being  appointed  to  preach 
to  the  congregation  at  Louisville.  Mr.  Vance  was  for  many  years  Stated  Clerk  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.  He  visited  the  churches  in  Indiana,  especially 
in  the  region  of  Charlestown.  where  he  organized  a  church  called  'Palmyra.' 
a  name  in  keeping  with  the  classical  tastes  for  antiquity  which  seemed  to 
have  prevailed  in  this  region  and  as  seen  in  the  names  of  Memphis.  Utica  and 
others." 

In  the  sketches  of  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  the  distinguished  pupil  ot 
Rev.  James  Vance  at  Middletown,  we  find  these  facts:  That  young  Wilson, 
went  to  Middletown  to  study  for  the  ministry:    that  he  boarded  in   the   family   of 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  7  3 

Mr.  Vance,  assisting  in  the  school  as  an  instructor  while  pursuing  his  own  the- 
ological studies  under  Mr.  Vance.  And  with  reference  to  Mr.  Vance  himself 
we  read: 

"James  Vance  resided  about  18  miles  east  of  Louisville,  in  Jefferson 
county,  Ky.,  and  had  charge  of  two  congregations.  In  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  he  was  rendered  nearly  helpless  by  means  of  rheumatism.  He  had  a 
younger  brother,  William,  a  young  man  of  much  more  than  ordinary  promise,  who 
was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  year  1803,  and  was  to  have  been  settled  over  the 
church  at  Danville,  and  another  in  the  same  neighborhood;  but  after  preaching 
a  single  sermon   to  each,   was  suddenly  called   from  his  earthly   labors." 

We  have  thus  established  the  fact  that  these  two  ministers,  John  Todd 
and  James  Vance,  who  planted  Presbyterianism  at  Charlestown,  were  educators. 
The  Mr.  Lapsley  mentioned  as  companion  to  Mr.  Todd  in  administering  the 
sacrament  at  Charlestown  appears  to  have  been  a  Joseph  B.  Lapsley,  who, 
with  Samuel  T.  Scott,  James  McGready,  William  Wylie,  Samuel  Brown  and 
Thomas  Cleland,  were  to  labor  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  in  the  Territory 
of  Indiana.  "This  field,"  says  a  church  historian,  "fell  properly  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  as  to  the  one  to  which  it  was  most  accessible; 
and  by  far  the  largest  number  of  its  missionaries  were  selected  from  that  body. 
Already  congregations  had  been  gathered  at  several  places,  but  none  of  them 
were  able  to  sustain  a  pastor." 

MORE   ABOUT   JONATHAN   JENNINGS 

And  now  with  reference  to  Jonathan  Jennings  and  the  Charlestown 
church,  Rev.  F.  M.  Hurst  says:  "In  1806  Jonathan  Jennings,  then  only  25  years 
old,  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  Jeffersonville,  where  he  remained  but  a  short 
time  and  then  moved  to  Vincennes,  and  from  there  to  Charlestown  in  1807, 
where  he  afterwards  married  Miss  Anna  Hay,  and  here  he  made  his  home, 
and  within  the  borders  of  the  town  his  ashes  rest  today. 

"Young  Jennings  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  his  father  was  a  Presby- 
terian preacher  who  almost  in  the  beginning  of  the  boy's  life  moved  with  his 
family  to  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  boy  was  educated  in  the 
Presbyterian  school  at  Cannonsburg,  Washington  County — a  school  that  afterwards 
merged   into   what   is   today   Washington   and   Jefferson   College. 

"The  son  of  a  Presbyterian  minister,  educated  in  a  Presbyterian  school, 
coming  out  from  the  most  active  part  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  the  fervor 
and  freshness  of  life,  what  would  have  been  more  natural  than  that  he  should 
be  interested  in  organizing  the  Church  of  his  father  in  his  new  home?  And 
yet  there  is  no  record,  no  tradition,  so  far  as  this  historian  knows  connecting  him 
with   this   church. 

"His  father,  Rev.  Jacob  Jennings,  practiced  medicine  until  he  was  about 
40  years  old  and  entered  the  ministry  about  1784  or  1785;  and  in  1792  he 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  Dunlaps  Creek  Presbyterian  Church,  that  still 
stands  as  one  of  the  landmarks  of  early  Presbyterianism  in  Fayette  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, as  the  Charlestown  church  stands  as  a  landmark  in  Clark  County: 
Indiana. 

"With  such  a  training,  and  with  such  influences  back  of  him,  is  it  unrea- 
sonable  to   suppose   that   among    the    first   things   that    interested    this    young    man 


74  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

in  his  new  home  was  the  church  of  his  father;  and  would  he  not  be  inclined 
to  join  his  neighbors  in  an  effort  to  build  a  church  at  the  very  outset,  and 
even  though  he  may  not  have  been  a  member  of  the  congregation,  may  we  not 
suppose    that   he   was   interested    in    the   organization?" 

THOMAS  CLELAND  AND  ZACHARY  TAYLOR 

Now  this  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  Kentucky,  which  sent  John  Todd 
and  James  Vance  out  as  home  missionaries  the  first  time  they  came  to  Charles- 
town  and  vicinity,  was  organized  on  the  17th  day  of  October,  1786,  at 
Danville,  being  a  branch  of  Abingdon  Presbytery,  Virginia  and  consisted  of 
five  ministers.  It  grew,  of  course,  and  in  1804  ordained  Thomas  Cleland 
to  the  ministry.  He  was  the  youth  who  had  landed  at  Goose  Creek,  on  the 
River  Road  above  Louisville,  with  his  father's  family  when  Zachary  Taylor 
was  a  lad.  His  father  went  over  into  Washington  county  to  locate  a  home 
for  his  family,  and  while  he  was  gone  the  Taylor  family  took  the  Clelands  in 
and  treated  them  with  marked  kindness.  Because  of  sickness  they  had  stayed 
in  their  houseboat  at  the  landing;  and  then  they  temporarily  occupied  a  log 
cabin  on  the  Taylor  farm.  Young  Cleland  says  he  played  with  "Little  Zack," 
and  that  Mother  Taylor  treated  his  mother  like  a  sister.  This  boy  was  the 
Presbyterian  minister  sent  over  into  Indiana  Territory  sixteen  years  later  (the 
time  between  1789  and  1805)  to  preach  at  Vincennes  before  the  Governor, 
who  was  General  Harrison,  a  slavery  man  and  a  strong  opponent  of  Jonathan 
Jennings  in  making  Indiana  Territory  a  Free  State.  Young  Cleland  preached 
in  the  council  house  and  was  so  favorably  received  that  the  people  implored  him 
to  remain,  promising  to  send  back  to  Kentucky  for  his  family.  But  he  prom- 
ised to  come  again  to  see  them  one  year  later,  which  he  did,  and  with  even 
greater  difficulty  declined  the  call  extended  to  him.  He  says  that  ever  since  his 
marriage  he  had  in  mind  to  remove  and  reside  in  a  Free  State  and  here  was 
his  opportunity.  But  his  personal  and  religious  interests  back  in  Kentucky 
decided  him  not  to  stay  in  Vincennes.  His  two  daughters  and  a  number  of 
grandchildren  were  life-long  members  of  the  Harrods  Creek  Presbyterian  Church 
on  the  River  road  above  Louisville. 


CHAPTER    XV 


f^^^^™^  HE    old    Samuel    Snowden    Mill    stood    in    the    lovely    little    woodland 

■     I  "^         west  of  Goshen  where  the  new  John  Bottorff  residence  is  now  locat- 

X.1  y  ed.    People    came    for    miles    on    mill-days    to    get    their    corn    ground 

in  our  boyhood.  The  miller  was  Mr.   Samuel  Snowden,   then  an  old 

man   with   a  twinkle  in   his  eye   and   a   lively   step   as   he   watched   the   white   meal 

pour    dov/n    into    the    bin.    With    a    comical    twinkle    and    a    kindly    beckon    he 

would  call   the  boys  up   to   the  bin   and  hold  out   a  hand   full   of   meal    for   them 

to  smell  and  then  suddenly  rub  it  good  and  proper  all  over   their   nose  and   eyes. 

This  practical  joke  was  the  keynote   to   the  irrepressive   fun   of   the   jolly   miller. 

You  would  scarcely  imagine  that  this  man  was  in  youth  one  of  the  most 
gifted  poets  and  romantic  lovers  in  Oldham  county  history.  In  another  chapter 
we  gave  in  brief  the  tragical  story  of  his  love  for  "Beautiful  Jane  Todd."  Miss 
Todd  married  William  D.  Mitchell,  for  many  years  county  clerk  of  Oldham 
county.  We  understand  that  he  was  a  very  small  man  but  very  smart,  as  the 
old  people  of  LaGrange  express  it  today.  He  was  as  homely  as  Miss  Todd  was 
beautiful. 

There  were  a  number  of  boys  in  the  family  of  William  D.  Mitchell,  or 
Billy  Mitchell,  as  he  was  called  by  everybody.  One  old  resident  of  LaGrange, 
Mr.  Ballard,  was  with  one  of  the  Mitchell  boys  when  they  were  very  small.  They 
were  at  an  old  treadmill  and  the  Mitchell  boy  walked  off  backward  and  got 
caught  in  the  machinery  and  was  mashed  to  death.  Another  son,  Armsted  Mitchell, 
went  to  Texas  and  came  to  LaGrange  many  years  afterward  to  pay  a  debt  in- 
curred in  his  boyhood,    with   the  interest   on   same.    He  was   a   very   honest   man. 

Mr.  John  Ballard,  of  Shelbyville,  was  a  schoolmate  of  these  Mitchell  boys 
as  far  back  as  1846  or  earlier.  It  was  the  impression  in  LaGrange  that  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mitchell  died  there  and  were  buried  in  an  old  cemetery  north  of  town  now 
used  by  the  colored  church.  We  were  told,  in  our  quest  for  information,  that 
no  stones  marked  their  graves.  The  memory  of  this  once  widely  known  couple 
seemed  to  have  vanished  in  oblivion.  Our  good  friend,  Mr.  D.  H.  French,  went 
with  us  in  the  spring  of  1920  to  every  old  inhabitant  in  LaGrange  trying  to 
get  a  trace  of  some  living  relative  of  "Beautiful  Jane  Todd,"  to  trace  out  the 
facts    of    this    present    chapter. 

We  learned  that  she  was  related  to  the  Barbours  who  built  the  old  home 
at  Clifton  on  the  Ohio  near  Westport.  We  were  told  that  Mrs.  Lou  Gibson,  of 
Newport,  Ky.,  was  a  relative  that  might  give  us  some  information.  A  picture 
of  Miss  Todd,  with  some  poems  of  love  by  Samuel  Snowden,  who  adored  her, 
had  come  into  our  hands;  but  by  a  grievous  misfortune  the  picture  was  ruined. 
Mr.  French  used  every  means  in  his  power  to  put  us  in  touch  with  Mrs.  Gibson 
in   hopes   that   another   picture    might    be    found.    We   are   happy    to    say    that    Mrs. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


MRS.    ELINOR    SNOWDEN    LOUGHRIE 


Mrs.  Elinor  Snowden  Loughrie,  sister  of  Samuel  Snowden,  lover  of 
"Beautiful  Jane  Todd."  Mrs.  Loughrie's  husband,  Lemuel  Loughrie,  was 
a  Southern  merchant  and  strong-  anti-slavery  man'.  He  lies  buried  near 
Governor  Jennings  in  the  Charlestown,  Indiana,  Cemetery.  He  ranked  high 
among   the   emancipationists. 

Samuel  and  Elinor  Snowden  were  children  of  Joseph  Snowden,  a  lead- 
ing Baltimore  merchant,  who  married  lovely  Mary  Busey  in  1812.  This 
Joseph  Snowden  was  a  most  gifted  poet  and  humorist.  The  unpublished 
manuscript  is  a  treasure  yet  in  the  family  archives.  Francis  Snowden, 
pioneer  Elder  in  Old  Goshen  Church,  was  a  brother  of  Joseph  Snowden. 
Francis  bad  trouble  with  his  father  for  interfering  in  the  whipping-  of  a 
slave,  and  had  to  leave  home.  His  brother  Joseph,  in,  Baltimore,  fitted  him 
up  and  sent  him  West.  He  married  and  lived  in  Charlestown,  then  Goshen, 
in  pioneer  days.  When  his  brother  Joseph  died,  Francis  took  Joseph's 
children,  Samuel  and  Elinor,  into  his  own  home.  They  had  been  highly 
educated  before  coming  to  Kentucky.  Elinor  came  on  her  first  visit  when 
18  years  old  and  met  the  chivalrous  Lemuel  Loughrie.  He  was  a  native 
Virginian,  a  merchant  and  Knight  Templar.  Two  of  his  love  letters  to  Elinor 
are  preserved.  Travelling  on  the  Mississippi  River  he  wrote  back  thus  about 
Slavery,    in    1837: 

"The  Master  will  soon  depart  for  the  Middle  States  to  spend  the  summer 
in  security  and  purchase  an  additional  number  of  slaves  to  supply  the 
places  of  ithose  that  the  epidemic  diseases  of  the  country  carry  off.  One- 
third  of  these  he  expects  to  lose  the  succeeding  year.  "What  a  human, 
enlightened  and  Christian  people  we  are!  After  driving-  tlhe  poor  naked 
Indian  from  the  inheritance  of  his  fathers,  and  seizing  upon  his  patrimony, 
we  have  dragged  the  ignorant  African  from  beyond  the  Atlantic,  separating 
him  from  wife,  children  and  friends;  and  annually  doom  housands  of  their 
descendants  to  destruction,  soul  and  body,  by  forcing  them  into  this  poison- 
ous atmosphere,  in  order  that  the  white  man  may  wallow  in  wealth  and 
luxury  and  indulge  in  every  species  of  dissipation  ami  excess.  1  would 
like   to   be   riclh    but    1    cannot    accept    it    from   such    means." 

Our  good  friend,  Deacon  Virgil  Snowden,  of  Goshen  Church,  grandson 
of  SamucHl  Snowden,  says  that  "My  Old  Kentucky  Home"  came  to  Stephen 
Collins  Foster  after  witnessing  from  an  Ohio  River  steamboat  the  sad 
exodus    of    these    black    children    of    bondage    from    the    Old     Kentucky     Home. 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  77 

Gibson  proved  to  be  a  niece  of  Jane  Todd  and  verified  the  facts  of  the  romance 
with  Samuel  Snowden.  Our  answer  to  her  on  receiving  the  picture  of  Miss 
Todd  is  given  below  because  ft  describes  this  romance  so  fully.  She  died  and 
is  buried  in  Texas  beside  her  husband  on  their  plantation: 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Gibson: 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  glad  and  thankful  I  felt  when  I  received  the  lovely 
picture  of  your  revered  aunt  and  your   most  kind   and  interesting  letter. 

For  the  first  time  we  are  now  in  touch  with  the  Todds  who  built  the  old 
Jefferson  Woolfolk  home.  They  lived  in  a  double-story  cabin  on  the  hill  above 
the  spring  where  my  father's  present  home  stands.  Then  they  built  the  brick 
house  (about  1810  so  tradition  has  said,  but  old  deeds  prove  that  it  was  not 
till  1813  or  1814)  where  in  183  5  Jefferson  Woolfolk  came  with  his  family 
from  the  old  farm  on  Harrods  Creek  where  he  was  born. 

Mother,  who  was  Mary  Woolfolk,  has  so  often  spoken  of  "Beautiful  Jane 
Todd,"   whom   she  saw   in  her    (mother's)    girlhood. 

The  picture  has  a  touching  interest  to  me.  Mr.  Samuel  Snowden,  who  came 
to  his  Uncle  Francis  Snowden's  home  when  a  youth  from  Maryland  with  his  sister, 
met  Jane  Todd  at  Goshen  and  fell  deeply  in  love  with  her.  He  was  the  son 
of  a  gifted  poet  and  he  himself  in  youth  wrote  beautiful  poems  on  his  sad  and 
tragic  love  for  Miss  Todd.  She  did  not  fully  reciprocate  his  love,  for  she  evidently 
had  already  met  Mr.  Billy  Mitchell. 

Samuel  Snowden  was  born  in  1816  and  this  love  affair  was  in  183  6  or  '3  7 
when  he  was  20,  or  not  yet  21.  His  sister  taunted  him  with  not  being  a  man 
grown,  as  he  claimed,  and  possibly  his  youth  made  against  his  success  in  his 
suit  for  Jane  Todd's  affection.  Anyhow,  he  wrote  the  sad  and  beautiful  poems 
to  her  and  put  them  away  with  her  picture  his  whole  life  long.  The  family  never 
fully  admitted  this  romance  until  sometime  ago  when  Mr.  Snowden's  daughter 
gave  me  copies  of  the  poems,  and  then  a  few  weeks  ago  loaned  me  the  picture  of 
Jane  Todd,  not  being  sure  it  was  she.   But  it  was  undoubtedly,   and  a  lovely   one. 

Our  institution  photographers,  (of  the  Indiana  Reformatory)  in  making 
a  copy,  ruined  it,  and  I  was  distressed  beyond  measure  and  have  sought  diligently 
for  trace  of  Jane  Todd's  relations  to  find  another  picture  to  copy  and  replace 
the  precious  one  ruined.  Yours  will  do  this,  and  will  be  copied  by  the  best  and 
safest  photographer  in  Louisville,  and  no  accident  whatever  will  happen  to  it. 
It  will  be  returned  to  you  soon.  And  how  happy  I  am  that  this  beautiful  love 
story  is  now  safe  for  all  the  years  to  come!  She  was  called  "Beautiful  Jane  Todd." 

I  will  write  you  again  and  send  the  poems  as  soon  as  they  can  be  copied. 
May  God  bless  you  for  this  great  kindness  to  me.  Mother  is  waiting  eagerly  for 
me  to  take  the  picture  out  to  her  at  Goshen. 

You  can  read  this  all  over  and  give  me  nny  light  you  have  on  Jane  Todd's 
story.  I  have  the  facts  of  her  happy  marriage  and  home  life  at  LaGrange  with 
Mr.    Mitchell,    which    will   be   sent   you    with    the    poems. 

Gratefully    yours,    Lucien    V.    Rule. 

William  D.  Mitchell  was  one  of  the  leading  Freemasons  in  the  Lodges  of 
Oldham  county.  He  was  one  of  ihc  best  county  clerks  in  our  county  history. 
Mrs.  Gibson  says  he  was  highly  educated,  but  so  was  Mr.  Snowden.  Furthermore, 
Mr.  Mitchell  was  a  widower  with  children  and  the  world  today  wonders  why 
so   beautiful   a   girl   as   Jane   Todd   would    turn    down    an    ardent    young    lover    and 


78 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


poet  like  Samuel  Snowden  for  a  widower.  But  we  are  informed  that  the  graces 
of  manner  and  the  elegeances  of  culture  that  characterized  Mr.  Mitchell  made  him 
a  very  formidable  rival  of  the  yong  poet.  We  understand  that  Mr.  Snowden 
pressed  his  suit  so  ardently  and  with  such  presistance  that  Miss  Todd  decided 
in  favor  of  the  most  composed  and  masterful  lover,  whom  she  married.  Never- 
theless, the  love  poems  of  Samuel  Snowden  celebrate  her  beauty  and  his  devotion 
•  n  a  way  eminently  worthy  to  pass  on  to   future  years. 


REV.    P.    S.    CLELAND,    D.    D. 

Pastor  of  the  Kentucky  pioneers  to  Greenwood,  Indiana,  from  ihis 
father's   old    congregations. 

Philip  Sidney  Cleland,  so  long  pastor  of  the  Greemwod,  Indiana,  Pres- 
byterian Church,  which  celebrated  its  centennial  in  December,  1925,  was  the 
fifth  child  anxi  eldest  son  of  Pioneer  Preadher  Thomas  Cleland.  Philip  was 
born  November  27,  1811,  and  passed  away  just  before  reaching  his  74th 
birthday. 

"He  had  witnessed  the  great  revolution  in  our  modes  of  travel,  in  the 
postal  system  of  the  'country,  in  methods  of  domestic  labor,  from  the  sewing 
machine  to  the  reaper.  He  had  taken  part  in  the  early  temperance  move- 
ments in  this  country,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  stood  with  tlhe  friends 
of   prohibition. 

"Thougih  born  and  reared  in  a  Slave  State,  he  became  convinced,  early 
in  his  life,  that  the  system  of  human  slavery  was  .antagonistic  to  our  civil 
and  social  institutions.  He  was  not  fanatical,  but  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
his   convictions   when   occasion   seemed   to   demand   it. 

"Having  graduated  at  Centre  College  in  1S30  under  Dr.  Gideon  Black- 
burn, at  the  age  of  nineteen,  his  father  sent  'him  to  lAmhersit  College  for 
one  year.  There  he  met  E.  P.  Humphrey,  Henry  Ward  Reecher  and  other 
promising  young  men;  and  at  Audover  Seminary  he  was  taught  by  Leonard 
Woods.  Moses  Stewart,  Dr.  Thos.  Skinner,  Ralph  Emerson  and  Edward 
Roibinson." 

Mr.  Clelland  accepted  a  call  to  the  Greenwood,  Indiana.  Chunch  in  1S39. 
The  people  were  from  the  section  of  country  and  the  former  conigreg-ations 
of  his  father  at  New  Providence  and  Harrodsburu.  Ky.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Maniah  Tibcomib,  of  Newberryport,  Mass.  She  became  His  companion 
and  helper  in  those  early  days  in  Indiana.  This  strong-minded  woman  con- 
firmed her  husband  in  his  anti-slavery  views:  and  for  27  years  lie  was  pastor 
at  Greenwood  and  clear  in  ihis  devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  prog- 
ress. We  visited  the  Greenwood  Church  in  October,  1925,  and  were  much 
impressed  with  the  memory  and  hold  Or.  Cleland  had  on  the  church  and 
community  in  Civil  War  days.  He  published  a  notable  memorial  address 
on    the    church    history:    and    two    of    his    Elders    were    still    living. 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  79 

LINES    TO   A   LADY 

When   from   thy   cheek   is   faded 
The  rose  that  blossoms  now, 
When  thy  bright  eye  is  shaded, 
And   shadows   cloud   thy   brow; 
When  fortune  shall  bereave  thee, 
Of  all   thou   call'st   thine   own, 
When   all   the   world   shall   leave   thee, 
Sad,    cheerless,    and   alone, 
When  those  who  now  adore  thee, 
And   worship  at  thy  shrine, 
Shall    vanish    from    before    thee, 
And  name  thee  not  divine; 
When   love   no    longer   borrows, 
Her  brightest  charms  from  thee. 
Oh,  turn  away  from  sorrows, 
And    come    away    to    me. 
Not   for   thy   form   I   love   thee, 
Though   as   an   angel    fair, 
Not  sinless   would   I   prove   thee, 
For  hope  would   perish   there, 
Not  for  the  damask  roses, 
That  bloom   upon    thy   cheek, 
Not  for  as  brief  day  closes, 
The  charms  that  there  do   speak. 
But  for  thine  eyes'   deep  splendor 
That  look  the  sunbeams  down, 
That  speak  in  accents  tender, 
That  freeze  but   with   a   frown. 
That   speak   in    accents   strongest 
The    noble    mind    within, 
Whose  love  survives  the  longest, 
For  that  thy  heart  I   win. 


SELECTED   FOR   MISS    TODD 

Whilst    free   from    fashion's   artful    charms, 
Benevolence,    the   bosom    warms. 
Persuasive  virtue  charms  the  soul, 
And  reason's  laws  alone  control. 

Mild    as    the   beams    of    radiance    shine, 
May  piety  thy  powers  refine. 
Puie  as  the  mimic  pearls  that  spread 
Their   liquid   beauty    o'er   the   mead, 
And  like   the   rising  orb   of   day, 
May  wisdom  guide  thy  dubious  way. 


80  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


THE   PARTING   HOUR 

The   hour   has   come   that   we   must   part, 
A   long,    a    fond,    farewell, 
But  still    within   this   lonely    heart, 
Thy   memory   shall   dwell. 

I'll   think   of   thee   on    winter's   night, 
When   spring   is   on    the   green, 
I'll  think  of  thee  when  summer  bright 
Or  autumn   tints  the  scene. 

I'll    think    of    thee    when    measures    flow. 
And   woo   the  noontide   air. 
I'll  think  of  thee  when  kneeling  low, 
Before   my   God  in   prayer. 

Till   all    my   life  has   fled, 
I'll   think,    I'll   think   of  thee, 
And  when   this   weary   soul   is   dead, 

Oh!    then   remember me. 

— S.    S. 

ACROSTIC  FOR  MISS  I.  J.  T. 

In  life's  young  morn  may  hope  be  thine, 
Sweet  slumbers  soothe  thy  pillow, 
Around    thee   peace    and   bliss    entwine, 
Beyond    life's    troubled    billow. 
Each  hour  to  thee  her  tribute  bring, 
Ladencd  with  virtue's  gem; 
Like  stars,   that  pure   from  heaven   spring, 
Adorn  night's  azure  diadem. 

Joyous  thy   early   dreams   should   be, 
And   thy   glad   heart    grow   lighter; 
Ne'er  dimmed  by  care  thy  bright  blue  eye, 
Each  moment  should  grow  brigh&er. 

Till   Fate,    whose   silent,    ruthless,    fight. 
O'er   all    earth's   fairest   driven; 
Dear   J  .  .  .  .    shall    find    thee    without    blight, 
Death   waft  thee  home  in   Heaven. 
— S.    S. 


The  letters  of  Mrs.  M.  L.  Gibson  of  Newport  about  the  Todds  supply  us 
with  information  concerning  the  builder  of  the  Old  Todd  Homestead  at  Goshen. 
She    wrote   us   on   April    17th,    1920,    as    follows: 

"I  must  say  I  was  greatly  surprised  to  find  anyone  inquiring  for  my  dear 
aunt  (Jane  Todd)  who  passed  away  about  sixty  years  ago.  I  am  the  nearest 
living  relative.  She  was  the  only  sister  of  my  mother.  Eliza  Todd  Taliaferro. 
It   is  a   little  puzzling   to   know   who   this   is   writing   of   one   so   long    gone.    I    am 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  81 

eighty-six  and  not  a  soul  to  talk  with  that  knows  of  the  past.  I  have  only  a 
daughter  left  of  my  family.  By  an  accident  three  years  ago  she  broke  her  hip 
and   is  still   lame,    using   a   crutch. 

"I  remember  the  Henshaws,  and  of  having  visited  the  old  brick  house  (the 
Todd  Homestead)  when  Mr.  Jefferson  Woolfolk  lived  there.  I  knew  my  grand- 
father had  lived  there  before  Mr.  Woolfolk.  Did  my  grandfather  build  the  house? 
Some  of  my  mother's  children  were  born  there.  If  there  is  any  information  1 
can  give  you,  I  will  be  pleased  to  do  so.  Write  any  questions  and  I  will  answer. 
I  am  sending  a  daguerreotype  of  my  aunt,  Jane  Todd,  and  her  little  son.  who 
lived   to   go   into   the   Confederate   Army,    but   died   soon    after.    She   died   in    Texas 


m.„.jl: 


ilk 


WmSmmSSm 


GRAVE  OF  PARSON  JOHN  TODD 

Elder  Whitenack  of  the  Greenwood,  Indiana,  Presbyterian  Church,  at 
the  grave  of  Parson  John  Todd,  Greenwood  Cemetery,  October,  1925.  After 
the  meeting-  ,o£  the  Indiana  Synod  at  Kokomo,  we  came  down  to  Greenwood 
to  locate  the  long-sought  grave  of  the  beloved  John  Todd.  Elder  Carson,  a 
cultured  veteran  of  the  Cross,  sent  us  to  Elder  Whitenack,  wlho  saw  the 
boidies  of  the  pioneers  removed  from  the  old  burying  ground  along  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  nearly  40  year  ago.  Elder  Whitenack  is  a  remark- 
able man  of  89  years,  erect  and  active — a  hero  of  Andersonville  Prison  in 
Civil  War  days.  He  went  with  ms  to  the  present  city  cemetery,  where  we 
soon  stood  above  the  dust  of  the  hallowed  dead.  A  long,  encirciling  stone 
memorial,  /with  the  names  and  dates  of  each  death,  marks  the  spot  where 
these  heroes  rest.  We  had  Elder  Whitenack  stand  in  the  picture.  Parson 
John    Todd   died    in   Greenwood    in    1839. 

As  we  walked  along  Elder  Whitenack  gave  us  a  most  graphic  account 
of  his  Civil  War  adventures,  especially  in  Andersonville  Prison.  These  ex- 
periences he  has  told  in  printed  form  in  the  Indiana  Magazine  of  History. 
He  related  'his  visits  back  to  Mercer  County,  Kentucky,  to  the  olid  home  and 
scenes  of  Thomas  Cleland,  the  pioneer  preacher.  We  made  many  notes  and 
came  away  wonderfully  impressed  with  the  abiding  tradition  and  ideal 
of  the  early  settlers  and  the  church  they  established.  We  lost  our  notes, 
unfortunately:  ibut  the  above  facts  and  the  precious  scene  wihere  John  Todd 
rests    suffice   to   consecrate   this   present    memorial    record. 


on  their  plantation.  My  name  was  Mary  Louisa  Taliaferro,  married  in  1855 
to  J.  C.  Gibson,  of  Oldham  county,  formerly  of  Virginia.  Keep  the  picture  and 
return  it  at  your  pleasure." 

A    second    letter    from    Mrs.    Gibson    gives    us    fuller    information    about    the 
Todd    family    and    her    beautiful    aunt:     "You    are    thanking    me    while    I    feel    all 


82  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

obligation  on  my  part.  I  think  you  know  more  of  the  Todd  family  than  I  do. 
I  know  more  of  all  my  other  family  history  than  I  do  of  the  Todds.  My  mother 
died  when  she  was  thirty-seven  and  we  were  very  young  to  know.  My  aunt  Jane 
visited  Frankfort  and  Newport.  Her  uncle,  Samuel  Todd,  was  on  the  Court  of 
Appeals  in  Frankfort  for  thirty  years  in  succession.  She  spent  her  winters  there. 
Her  brothers,  Andrew  and  Robert  Todd,  lived  in  Newport  and  she  visited  them 
a  great  deal.  The  other  two  brothers,  Augustus  and  James,  lived  in  Illinois  or 
Missouri  and  died  there. 

"Old-time  people  were  very  neglectful  about  records.  My  grandfather's  first 
wife  was  Sara  Sterrett :  I  think  from  about  Bowling  Green,  Va.,  though  I  am  not 
sure.  In  going  back  to  Virginia  to  settle  his  estate  he  met  the  widow  Taliaferro, 
a  sister  of  General  James  Taylor.  Her  brother  had  induced  her  to  move  to  New- 
port, Ky.,  which  she  did  from  Caroline  county,  Virginia;  and  Major  Todd  met 
her  here  in  Newport  and  addressed  her  and  they  were  married  and  went  to  Old- 
ham county.  I  suppose  they  went  to  the  old  brick  house. 

"Her  youngest  son  had  been  sent  from  Newport  to  Clark  county  to  bring 
some  money  owing  to  Mrs.  Taliaferro.  He  went  on  horseback  and  when  he 
came  very  near  the  house  (in  Oldham  county)  out  in  the  woods  he  met  a  young 
lady.  He  asked  for  Major  Todd.  She  told  him  she  was  a  daughter  and  would 
show  him  the  way.  After  this  there  was  a  marriage  between  Eliza  Todd  and 
Robert  Taliaferro;  and  these  were  my  parents.  Whether  Major  Todd  and  the 
widow  Taliaferro  had  ever  met  in   Virginia,   I  do  not  know;   but  I   suppose   not. 

"Judge  Samuel  Todd  settled  in  Carrollton,  Ky.,  then  moved  to  Frankfort. 
They  believed  in  marrying  for  he  had  his  second  wife,  a  Catholic.  He  had  a 
grand  house  for  those  times,  a  brick  dwelling  and  the  loveliest  flower  garden 
that  I  ever  saw.  His  grandchildren  still  live  there  on  the  Kentucky  River  at  the 
Locks.  This  is  about  all  I  know  about  my  mother's  family.  They  were  Irish. 
I  have  been  told  by  Methodist  ministers  that  my  mother  was  an  angel   on   earth. 

"My  aunt  Jane  Todd  lived  with  my  mother  at  an  old  brick  house  above 
Goshen  known  at  that  time  as  the  Lowlace  Place.  Whether  Jordan  Groves, 
Congressman  from  Louisville,  owned  it  when  my  father  lived  there,  I  will  not 
say;  but  I  could  just  see  the  house  two  years  ago  when  I  was  going  from 
Skylight  to  Mr.  Ed  Mason's.  I  suppose  you  know  the  place.  Well,  there  is  where 
Mr.  Samuel  Snowden  courted  my  aunt  Jane  Todd.  My  father  moved  from  that 
place  to  LaGrangc  and  at  that  time  William  D.  Mitchell's  first  wife  was  yet  living. 

"Mr.  Mitchell  was  a  learned  man,  I  think  he  received  his  education  from 
William  and  Mary  College,  Va.  My  old  uncle,  James  Todd,  I  think  was  educated 
there,  as  he  was  left  in  Virginia  to  complete  his  education  and  that  was  the 
oldest  college  there." 

We  had  always  been  under  the  impression  that  Mr.  Samuel  Snowden  had 
his  romance  with  Miss  Todd  while  she  was  living  at  the  Old  Todd  Homestead: 
but  Mrs.  Gibson  corrects  us  on  this.  The  Todd  Homestead  passed  into  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Francis  Snowden  shortly  previous  to  1835  when  Jefferson  Wool- 
folk  purchased  it.  So  we  still  think  that  young  Samuel  Snowden  must  have 
seen  Jane  Todd  and  must  have  fallen  in  love  with  her  before  the  old  Todd  place 
passed  from  the  hands  of  her  father.  We  know  of  a  certainty  he  saw  her  in  Old 
Goshen  church  and  that  his  sister  taunted  him  with  becoming  a  Presbyterian  in 
order  to  win  the  heart  of  Jane  Todd.  It  was  not  a  very  gracious  thing  for  a 
sister  to  do,   as  she  was  still  a  Catholic. 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  83 

Tradition  docs  not  exaggerate  the  beauty  of  Jane  Todd.  Elinor  Snowden 
naturally  resented  her  brother  Samuel's  relinquishing  the  faith  of  his  boyhood 
in  the  Catholic  church  because  of  what  she  considered  a  love  affair  of  green 
and  gawky  youth.  But  the  pure  and  exalted  poetry  which  this  young  lover 
wrote  proves  the  depth  and  power  of  his  affection  for  Jane  Todd.  There  is 
yet  another  poem  which  we  have  not  published  that  is  based  on  the  English 
Classics  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  is  astonishing  in  its  conception  and  ex- 
pression. But  Mr.  Giltner  Snowden  has  in  his  possession  the  manuscript  poems 
of  Samuel  Snowden's  father,  and  they  are  the  most  finished  examples  imaginable 
of   wit,    sentiment   and   elevated   emotion. 

Mrs.  Jane  Todd  Crawford,  the  brave  and  heroic  woman  upon  whom  Dr. 
Ephraim  McDowell  of  Danville,  Ky.,  performed  the  first  famous  operation  in 
abdominal  surgery,  was  a  sister  of  Major  John  Todd  who  built  the  old  Todd 
Wcolfolk  home:  and  she  was  of  course  an  aunt  of  "Beautiful  Jane  Todd"  and 
seems  to  have  visited  the  Todds  at  Goshen  in  early  days.  Dr.  Schachner  of  Louis- 
ville in  his  brilliant  biography  of  Dr.  McDowell,  sought  diligently  to  place  this 
Mrs.  Crawford  in  her  relationship  to  the  Lincoln  Todds:  and  it  was  our  satis- 
faction  to   verify   that   relationship   fully. 


CHAPTER    XVI 


^mt^0u  ^0bh  l^jammm  ^inl&  %xml&xQ 


^1    N  OUR  story  of  the  Old  Goshen  Church,  published  in   1913,  we  made 
y*  ^-1         mention  of  Parson  John  Todd  among  the   "Pastors  of  the  Past"   as 

X^  J  the  first  home  missionary  to  the  Old  Union  Meeting  House  about 
the  year  1808.  This  approximation  was  based  on  a  very  tenacious 
local  tradition  as  remembered  by  our  mother,  and  has  since  received  very  probable 
confirmation  in  that  choice  and  scholarly  book  of  church  history,  "Early  Indiana 
Presbyterians,"  by  the  Rev.  Hanford  A.  Edson,  published  in  1898.  Copies  of 
the  book  are  exceedingly  rare.  We  only  saw  the  Hanover  College  Library  copy 
recently  for  the  first  time,  and  secured  it  from  President  Millis  to  compare  and 
supplement  the  closing  chapters  of  this  present  history,  especially  with  reference 
to  the  missing  dates  and  episodes  in  the  life  of  Parson  Todd.  Dr.  Edson  has 
supplied  them  with  a  keenness  of  historic  insight  and  research  that  is  truly 
wonderful. 

STORY  OF  JOHN  TODD,    SENIOR 

Rev.  John  Todd,  Senior,  father  of  our  Parson  Todd,  came  from  Ulster  in 
Ireland,  where  his  Scotch  Presbyterian  ancestors  had  lived  since  their  exile  under 
Charles  the  First.  This  Senior  John  Todd  was  said  to  be  a  weaver  by  trade. 
He  graduated  from  Princeton  College  in  the  class  of  1749,  and  was  taken  under 
trial  by  the  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  in  1750.  When  Samuel  Davies  appealed 
to  the  Synod  of  New  York  to  send  a  home  missionary  to  the  unpastored  Pres- 
byterian Dissenters  in  the  remote  regions  of  Virginia,  the  Synod  recommended 
John  Todd  to  be  licensed  as  the  very  man  of  God  for  that  work. 

John  Todd  agreed  to  go  and  the  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  licensed  and 
ordained  him  in  1750  and  '51.  He  procured  civil  license  also  in  Virginia  ana 
rode  the  circuit  first  established  by  Samuel  Davies  himself  in  the  Hanover  Pres- 
bytery. Samuel  Davies  preached  the  installation  sermon  and  thereafter  regarded 
John  Todd  as  Paul  did  Timothy,  his  very  son  in  the  gospel.  This  was  in  175  2. 
and  in  1755  the  great  evangelist  Whitcfield  visited  John  Todd's  congregation  and 
preached  with  apostolic  power  and  success.  Dr.  Edson  quotes  a  remarkable  letter 
from  Rev.  John  Todd  to  Whiteficld  describing  the  profound  influence  of  the 
revival  upon  that  community;  and  we  note  from  the  Life  of  Whitcfield  that  he 
was  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Presbyterian  Dissenters  in  their  struggle  for 
religious  liberty.  Samuel  Davies  carried  their  case  to  the  British  Attorney  General 
on  his  visit  to  England  in  1754,  and  obtained  a  decision  that  the  Toleration  Act 
did  extend  to  the  Colonics,  Virginia  included.  Whitcfield  said  he  could  not 
understand  why  American  Dissenters  should  be  denied  rights  granted  to  their 
English  brethren.  Thus  was  John  Todd  schooled  under  Samuel  Davies  and 
George  Whiteficld  to  stand  up  for  human  rights  when  the  Great  Revolution 
came   on. 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  85 

When  Samuel  Davies  finally  became  President  of  Princeton  College,  all  his 
religious  and  educational  work  down  in  Virginia  fell  to  John  Todd.  They  had 
started  a  movement  of  religious  instruction  and  betterment  among  the  Negro 
slaves,  John  Todd  having  at  one  time  as  many  as  one  hundred  in  his  classes,  thus 
anticipating  the  very  policy  proclaimed  and  lived  up  to  by  the  Presbyterian 
Emancipationists  in  Virginia  and  Kentucky  for  the  coming  century.  John  Todd 
was  the  pastor  of  Father  David  Rice,  who  had  been  converted  under  the  preaching 
of  Samuel  Davies.  Having  acquired  a  most  valuable  library  from  Old  England 
for  the  use  of  his  Academy  in  Virginia,  John  Tood  foresaw  its  immense  value 
to  the  Transylvania  Seminary  over  in  Kentucky,  where  his  pupil  and  disciple, 
David  Rice,  was  laying  the  foundation  of  schools  and  colleges.  Thus  John  Todd. 
Senior,  and  his  Virginia  Nephew,  Colonel  John  Todd,  became  the  earliest  patrons 
of  education  in  the  Kentucky  wilderness.  John  Todd,  Senior,  wore  himself  out 
as  a  home  missionary  and  teacher  in  the  pioneer  period  and  deserves  a  rank  in 
history  beside  the  fathers  of  the  famous  "Log  College"  of  long  ago.  Some  of 
the  younger  generation  of  preachers  in  his  Presbytery  criticised  Mr.  Todd  for  not 
attending  its  sessions  as  regularly  as  others,  though  he  was  in  feeble  health,  and 
they  even  circulated  a  report  that  he  had  been  lax  in  admitting  communicants 
to  the  Lord's  Table.  So  Mr.  Todd  mounted  his  horse  and  appeared  in  Pres- 
bytery, where  he  so  successfully  vindicated  himself  that  these  foolish  criticisms 
were  heard  no  more.  But  on  his  way  home,  Saturday,  July  27,  1793,  he  fell 
from  his  horse  and  was  found  dead  in  the  road.  Some  imagined  that  his  spirited 
steed  threw  him;  but  the  evidence  was  strong  that  it  was  a  stroke  of  apoplexy, 
for  his  son   John   afterward   died   of   the   same   cause. 

JOHN  TODD,  JUNIOR 

And  now  as  regards  John  Todd,  Junior,  our  Parson  Todd,  Dr.  Edson  makes 
most  illuminating  comments:  "It  was  of  such  a  father  that  John  Todd,  the 
younger,  was  born,  in  Louisa  County,  Virginia,  October,  1772.  The  region 
itself  was  in  its  variety  and  beauty  of  scenery  well-fitted  to  quicken  the  faculties 
of  a  boy;  and  the  manse  of  Providence  parish,  which  was  at  the  same  time  the 
seminary,  by  its  daily  routine  fostering  a  high  intellectual  life  also  gave  frequent 
welcome  to  guests  who   would  have  shone   in   the   most   brilliant   assembly. 

"Here  the  pastor's  son  obtained  his  first  knowledge  of  books,  and  here  he 
was  molded  by  the  stately  manners  of  the  society  around  him.  The  preparatory 
course  having  been  finished  at  the  parsonage  and  at  Washington  Academy,  he 
was  sent  to  Dickinson  College,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  graduated.  His  theological 
studies  at  Princeton  were  in  the  days  of  Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  and  when  they 
were  completed  he  returned  to  Virginia  to  begin  his  ministerial  career  in  his 
native   county. 

"Licensed  by  Hanover  Presbytery,  September  13,  1800,  he  'preached  his 
first  sermon  where  his  father  preached  his  last.'  For  some  time  he  served  the 
churches  left  vacant  by  his  father.  Having  previously,  in  1795,  married,  he 
removed  to  the  West  in  1806  (not  1809,  the  date  which  Davidson,  followed  by 
Foote,  gives)  and  settled  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  he  kept  alive  the  family 
traditions  in  establishing  a  school.  He  first  connected  himself,  October  10,  1809, 
with  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington,  but  was  received  October  3,  1810.  by 
Transylvania   Presbytery.      Though   occupied    with   his   school,    he    was    accustomed 


86  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

to  preach  at  various  points  in  Kentucky,  and  sometimes  spent  a  Sabbath  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Ohio  in  the  territory  of  Indiana." 

Pursuing  this  same  subject  of  Mr.  Todd's  time  and  itinerary  in  the  regions 
around  Louisville,  Dr.  Edson  says:  "During  Mr.  Todd's  residence  at  Louisville 
he  had  occasionally  preached,  as  early  as  1808,  apparently,  at  Charlestown,  Indi- 
ana, whither  he  sometimes  took  his  family  in  the  summer  to  avoid  the  heat  of  a 
southern  city.  These  excursions  were  continued  until  the  autumn  of  1817,  when, 
in  October,  the  disagreement  with  Presbytery  having  been  adjusted,  he  removed  to 
Indiana  and  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  Charlestown  church.  Here  he  remained, 
a  part  of  the  time  also  maintaining  a  school,  until  September,  1824,  when  he 
returned  to  Kentucky  and  settled  at  Paris,   there  establishing  a  classical  academy. 

"Though  his  health  was  now  somewhat  impaired,  he  also  continued  to 
preach  as  opportunity  was  presented,  but  in  1831  crossed  the  Ohio  again,  and 
took  up  his  residence  in  the  southern  part  of  Marion  County,  Indiana,  whither 
two  daughters,  Mrs.  Judge  James  Morrison  and  Mrs.  Thomas  J.  Todd,  had 
preceded  him.  The  church  of  South  Marion  having  been  organized,  he  supplied 
it  and  the  church  of  Eagle  Creek,  both  now  extinct,  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  unexpectedly  from  apoplexy,  December  13,  183  9.  His  remains  rest 
in  the  cemetery  at  Greenwood,   Indiana." 

DR.  EDSON  SPEAKS  FOR  JOHN  TODD 

Dr.  Edson,  historian  of  our  church  in  Indiana,  handles  the  incident  of  Rev. 
John  Todd's  difficulty  with  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  in  a  far  more  just  and 
illuminating  manner  than  any  other  writer  has  ever  done.  He  gives  facts  that 
are  absolutely  essential  to  a  fair  estimate  of  the  case.  He  describes  the  excitement 
produced  by  Craighead's  "erratic  theology"  a  century  ago  in  Kentucky;  how  he 
disregarded  the  admonition  of  the  Synod  and  preached  and  printed  a  famous 
sermon  on  Regeneration  containing  points  at  positive  variance  with  Presbyterian 
standards.  Quite  a  number  of  strong-minded  individuals  were  drawn  to  Craig- 
head by  "the  fascinations  of  his  oratory,"  says  Dr.  Edson,  among  them  John 
Todd,  whose  judgment  was  prejudiced  by  personal  partiality.  Yet  John  Todd 
had  a  confidential  correspondence  with  the  Rev.  Archibald  Alexander,  his  father's 
close  neighbor  and  friend  in  Old  Virginia,  upon  the  points  of  theology  in  this 
controversy;  and  since  Mr.  Todd  was  sincerely  seeking  light,  Dr.  Edson  says, 
"Such  good-tempered  discussion,  with  his  own  solitary  reflection,  would  probably 
have  led  a  candid  man  like  Todd  gradually  back  to  the  accepted  theology.  But 
these  were  times  of  war.  Kentucky  Presbyterians  had  suffered  too  much  annoy- 
ance from  heretics  to  be  in  a  patient  mood.  They  drew  the  scimitar  at  once. 
Todd,  having  been  accused  of  teaching  Craigheadism,  was  arraigned  by  Transyl- 
vania Presbytery  August  14,  1812,  and  after  trial  was  admonished.  This  Pres- 
byterial  onset  not  being  calculated  to  calm  one's  judgment,  it  is  perhaps  not 
surprising  that  the  accused  continued  to  preach  the  views  which  admonition  had 
failed  to  enlighten.  Upon  the  advice  of  Synod  he  was  therefore  suspended,  April 
15,    1813,   but  October    13,    1817,   the  controversy   was   amicably   adjusted." 

Dr.  Edson  thinks  the  account  of  this  incident  in  Davidson's  History  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Kentucky  is  needlessly  offensive.  He  commends  the 
research  and  discrimination  of  Davidson,  and  his  very  attractive  style  of  narrative; 
but   such   painful    episodes    as    this,    says   Dr.    Edson,    arc    too    warmly    written    for 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  87 

true  history.  The  author  puts  himself  too  near  the  fray:  "At  the  distance  of 
forty  years  his  expletives  seem  quite  too  fierce.  The  treatment  of  Todd  is  only 
a  single  instance  illustrating  the  justice  of  Dr.  Alexander's  criticism  (Princeton 
Review,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  308)  :  'We  think  that  in  some  cases  there  is  too  much 
minuteness  of  detail,  as  in  describing  certain  irregularities;  and  in  others  there 
is  what  may  be  called  too  rigid  a  fidelity  in  recording  facts  which  might  have 
been   better   left    in    perpetual    oblivion.' 

THE  CASE  OF  REV.  JAMES  MOORE 
Dr.  Edson  then  cites  the  case  of  the  Rev.  James  Moore,  who  was  the 
husband  of  John  Todd's  sister,  who  "had  experienced  what  he  and  his  friends 
considered  needless  rigor  when  seeking  licensure  from  Presbytery.  Perhaps  it  will 
now  be  generally  thought  that  a  larger  measure  of  kindness  might  have  retained 
that  valuable  man  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  At  any  rate  this  household 
tradition  must  have  affected  the  mind  of  Todd  and  rendered  a  judicial  process 
the    more    offensive. 

"That  indeed  does  not  seem  to  be  the  successful  means  of  curing,  though 
doubtless  it  is  sometimes  the  necessary  instrument  for  cutting  off  heretics.  But 
in  this  same  region,  where  the  ability  and  taste  for  theological  debate  yet  survive, 
Todd  had  afterward  the  satisfaction  of  illustrating  the  advantage  of  milder 
methods.  A  young  Kentucky  preacher,  John  A.  McClung,  who  was  creating 
a  considerable  sensation  by  his  powers  of  argument  and  oratory,  early  in  his 
career  was   distressed   by   serious   doubts.      His   biographer   says: 

'He  promptly  stated  his  condition  to  Presbytery  and  asked  to  be  relieved. 
In  the  discussion  which  ensued  a  motion  was  made  to  go  to  the  extent  of  expul- 
sion. The  Rev.  John  Todd,  a  noble  and  venerable  soldier  of  the  cross,  rose  and 
said:  Brethren,  I  hope  no  such  action  will  be  taken.  Brother  McClung  is  honest; 
he  is  a  seeker  after  truth,  but  under  a  cloud.  Give  him  time.  Relieve  him  as 
he  asks.  Do  nothing  more.  The  light  will  again  dawn  upon  him  and  he  will 
surely   return.' 

"The  counsel  of  Todd  was  followed,  and  the  light  did  dawn.  A  valuable 
reputation  was  spared  and  the  usefulness  of  a  minister's  life  defended." 

JOHN  TODD,  THE  SCHOLAR 
Dr.  Edson  says  that  John  Todd  enjoyed  much  better  opportunities  for 
literary  culture  than  any  of  his  pioneer  contemporaries  in  the  ministry,  and  that 
the  tradition  of  rare  scholarship  attaches  to  his  name.  He  was  a  master  Greek 
and  Hebrew  reader  in  the  original  tongues,  using  the  classic  versions  of  the 
scripture  at  family  worship,  which  he  translated  easily  into  English.  The  flavor 
of  such  religious  writers  of  old  time  as  Richard  Baxter  adherd  to  his  thought 
and  utterance.  As  a  preacher  Dr.  Edson  says  he  was  decidedly  the  scholar  in 
argument  and  scriptural  reference.  He  prepared  his  sermons  carefully  and  often 
made  notes;  but  his  style  of  discourse  was  extemporaneous  and  the  grace  and 
charm  of  his  speech  must  have  been  marked  and  impressive  in  that  generation 
and  time  of  great  pulpit  orators. 

A  LOST  SPIRITUAL  PORTRAIT 
We    are    so    deeply    indebted    to    Dr.    Edson    for    restoring    the    lost    spiritual 
portrait    of    this    eminent    man    of    God    that    we    cannot    forbear    completing    the 


88  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

outlines.  He  was  a  man  of  rather  stout  build,  perhaps  five  feet  eight  inches 
in  stature,  weighing  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  His  head  was  bald. 
Being  brought  up  in  the  stately  simplicity  of  the  Old  Virginia  manners,  he  was 
charming  in  his  courtesy.  The  Rev.  Ninian  Dickey  says  he  once  saw  Mr.  Todd 
at  his  father's  house  when  he  was  a  boy.  He  removed  his  hat  outside  the  door 
and  greeted  Father  and  Mother  Dickey  with  a  formal  politeness  that  was  yet 
cordial  and  winning.  This  grace  and  dignity  struck  the  young  lad  as  very 
unusual,  though  his  mother  commended  Mr.  Todd's  manners  as  a  model  for  her 
son   to   follow. 

"But  mother,"  insisted  the  boy,  "they  say  he  takes  off  his  hat  to  the 
'niggers'." 

"Perhaps  so,"  replied  Mrs.  Dickey,  "but  the  Negroes  uncover  their  heads 
out  of  respect  for  Mr.  Todd  and  he  will  not  allow  them  to  outdo  him  in 
politeness.      I  wish  my  boys  were  as  polite  and  good  as  Mr.   Todd." 

Dr.  Edson  gives  the  finishing  touch  to  his  portraiture  by  describing  Mr. 
Todd's  home  at  Charlestown  and  his  attitude  on  Negro  slavery:  "Mr.  Todd 
seems  to  have  been  as  hospitable  as  he  was  urbane.  The  manse  at  Charlestown 
was  a  well  known  'missionary  stopping  place.'  The  old  logs  listened  to  many 
an  hour's  noble  conversation,  while  around  the  big  fire  the  guests  and  the  host 
recounted  God's  past  mercies  and  laid  plans  for  the  highway  in  the  wilderness. 
At  that  chimney  corner  Martin,  Crowe,  Dickey,  Reed,  Bush,  Fowler,  Day, 
Goodale,  and  indeed  all  the  pioneers  of  that  early  day  found  a  welcome. 

"By  inheritance  from  both  branches  of  his  family  Mr.  Todd  held  a  number 
of  slaves,  which  he  brought  with  him  to  Kentucky;  but  as  he  did  not  recognize 
the  right  of  slavery  he  received  these  servants  as  a  trust  for  which  he  was  to  be 
held  responsible  to  God.  He  taught  them  to  read  the  scriptures  and  gave  them 
careful  religious  instruction.  As  they  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  thev 
received  their  freedom,  a  condition  which  at  that  time  was  not  prohibited  by  the 
state   law." 

And  now  as  regards  the  two  gifted  church  historians,  Davidson,  whose 
fame  rests  on  his  Story  of  our  Church  in  Kentucky,  and  Edson,  whose  fame  will 
endure  with  his  Story  of  our  Church  in  Indiana,  there  was  a  striking  parallel.  Dr. 
Davidson  was  a  most  scholarly  product  of  the  Eastern  States  who  came  to  Ken- 
tucky as  a  pastor  in  1832  in  the  city  of  Lexington.  He  became  President  of 
Transylvania  University  for  two  years  and  gathered  the  rich  and  neglected  treas- 
ures of  our  church  history  as  perhaps  no  other  man  could  have  done.  His  history 
had  long  been  a  book  that  every  student  of  the  past  revered  and  perused  with 
relish  and  confidence.  Dr.  Edson,  likewise  the  product  of  Eastern  culture, 
came  to  Indianapolis  as  a  pastor  in  1864  and  during  the  succeeding  years  sought 
out  and  assembled  some  of  the  rarest  chapters  in  our  church  history.  He  had 
access  to  documents  no  one  else  had  ever  examined:  and  his  account  is  enriched 
by  conversations  and  correspondence  with  some  eminent  men  of  God  who  were 
in  close  touch  with  the  first  generation  of  Forerunners.  Moreover.  Dr.  Edson 
was  a  noble  and  judicious  mind,  belonging  to  a  later  period  than  Dr.  Davidson: 
and  we  cannot  too  highly  value  such  intensely  human  and  convincing  sketches 
as  that  of  John  Todd. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

g\  Y\  E  HAVE  already  mentioned  the  historic  grove  where  the  old  "Harrod's 
/  I  |  Creek  Union  Meeting  House"  stood  in  1825,  when  the  Goshen 
^J^/  Church  was  organized  by  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  under  the 
pastorate  of  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn.  This  famous  Presbytery  was 
formed  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  out  of  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  and  held 
its  first  meeting  at  Middletown,  April  10,  1816.  One  of  the  strong  characters 
of  the  Presbytery  was  a  Scotch  pioneer  preacher,  Rev.  Archibald  Cameron.  He 
was  about  the  same  age  of  Gideon  Blackburn,  born  in  1771  or  '72,  and  was 
brought  to  America  by  his  parents,  who  were  of  the  "Clan  Cameron"  and  the 
"Clan  McDonald."  A  sojourn  of  some  years  on  the  Monongahela  River  fol- 
lowed. An  elder  brother,  Angus,  went  with  General  George  Rogers  Clark  to 
Kentucky  and  returned  with  glowing  accounts  of  the  new  country.  So  the 
Cameron  family  moved  thither  in  April,  1781,  and  settled  near  Bardstown,  in 
Nelson  County.  Here  young  Archibald  grew  up  amid  Indian  perils  and  frontier 
hardships.  This  brave  brother  Angus  was  a  fairly  good  Latin  and  Greek  scholar 
and,  though  at  times  slightly  deranged  from  a  contusion  or  injury  to  his  head, 
he  taught   all   the   younger   members   of   the   family. 

Archibald  attended  "Transylvania  Seminary"  and  completed  his  education 
under  a  Dr.  Priestly  at  Bardstown  with  other  boys  who  became  famous  Ken- 
tuckians.  Archibald  then  went  to  Danville  and  studied  theology  under  Father 
David  Rice;  and  was  licensed  to  preach  by  Transylvania  Presbytery  in  1795. 
He  immediately  became  the  pioneer  Home  Missionary  of  his  Church  in  the 
counties  of  Nelson.  Shelby  and  Jefferson.  The  flock  in  the  wilderness  of  Shelby 
and  Nelson  called  for  his  pastoral  services  and  he  was  ordained  over  them  in 
June,  1796.  He  was  the  hero  of  our  faith  on  the  frontier  for  many  years  and 
organized  a  number  of  churches  afterward  embraced  in  Louisville  Presbytery.  But 
his  chief  claim  to  historic  note  is  that  he  was  the  pastor  and  spiritual  preceptor 
of  John  Finley  Crowe,  the  knightly  young  Abolition  school  teacher  and  student 
for  the  ministry  in  Shelby  County  about  the  year  1816.  Father  Cameron  was 
evidently  very  partial  to  him;  yet  we  can  get  no  trace  at  all  as  to  what  he 
thought  of  young  Crowe's  anti-slavery  convictions.  But  as  Cameron  and  Crowe 
were  both  disciples  of  David  Rice,  the  first  and  noblest  of  all  Emancipators  in 
the  West,  John  Finley  Crowe  takes  front  rank  among  "The  Forerunners"  when  he 
is  exiled  from  Shelby  County  for  his  views  in  1823.  Methodist  history  tells  us 
that  young  Crowe  was  teaching  school  in  an  old  log  cabin  out  in  the  woods  in 
1823  when  a  tall,  skeleton-like  young  preacher  of  the  Wesleyan  faith  came  into 
the  room  and  talked  and  prayed  with  marvelous  power  over  the  pupils.  This 
visitor  was  Benjamin  Crouch,  who  died  in  185  9  as  Superintendent  of  Goshen 
Academy.  Anyhow,  young  Crowe  went  to  Hoosier  Frccsoil;  and  leather  Cameron 
remained  the  beloved  pastor  of  the  Shelbyville  Church,  which  he  had  gathered. 
He  was  a  blunt  and  fiery  debater  with  the  Methodists  and  Baptists.  From  1846 
to  1849  his  successor  in  the  Shelbyville  pulpit  was  Rev.  James  Smith,  D.  D., 
who  went  from  Shelbyville  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  to  become  the  pastor  of 
Abraham    Lincoln.      Father   Cameron    was    silent    on    Slavery. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


Palrtfr  Pltla®nf  ^k  WmtxtntntT  ®(  Wix&h  Maul 


£-m ~"V  AVID  NELSON'S  father  was  of  English  and  his  mother  of  Scotch 
■  1  descent.  He  was  born  in  East  Tennessee,  September  24,  1793. 
^^J^^S  ^e  was  cracMed  amid  mountain  scenery  and  loved  the  open  wild 
and  wood  all  his  days.  He  was  educated  at  Washington  College, 
Tennessee,  under  Dr.  Samuel  Doak,  the  preceptor  of  Gideon  Blackburn.  He 
graduated  at  sixteen  and  went  to  Danville,  Kentucky,  to  study  medicine  under 
the  afterward  famous  surgeon,  Ephraim  McDowell.  He  completed  his  course 
in  Philadelphia  and  returned  to  Kentucky  in  time  to  enlist  in  the  War  of  1812. 
His  regiment  was  ordered  to  the  Canadian  frontier.  The  privation  and  suffering 
were  so  terrible  that  Dr.  Nelson  barely  escaped  alive.  He  made  his  bed  in  the 
snow  and  subsisted  on  frozen  fat  pork  and  water  without  bread.  On  the  return 
march  through  a  wild  Indian  country  he  lay  down  in  the  snow  to  die  of  cold, 
hunger  and  fatigue.  But  his  friend  and  relative,  Colonel  Allen  of  Kentucky, 
missed  him  and  went  back  to  find  him.  Lifting  him  upon  his  own  powerful 
horse,  he  carried  Nelson  to  safety.  This  rescue  he  always  regarded  as  providential. 
In  due  season  he  was  called  into  service  again  under  Generals  Jackson  and 
Coffee,  this  time  amid  the  swamps  and  fevers  of  the  far  South.  Again  his  life 
was  dispaired  of  and  again  God  raised  him  up  from  the  very  jaws  of  death  to 
hope  and  health.  Young  Nelson  had  experienced  religious  sentiment  in  his  boy- 
hood, but  while  studying  medicine  in  Danville  he  fell  in  with  a  skeptical  and 
unspiritual  group  where  he  cast  up  his  early  religious  impressions  as  self-deception. 
His  life  in  the  army  confirmed  his  hostility  to  religion  and  the  Bible.  He  was 
a  disciple  of  Voltaire,  Volney  and  Paine.  He  came  home  from  the  army  a  lover 
of  cards  and  liquor  and  a  fast  life  of  fun  and  dissipation.  Jonesboro  was  a 
frontier   town   of  Tennessee. 

But  Nelson  was  a  most  efficient  and  popular  young  physician;  and  he 
shortly  eloped  with  a  beautiful  young  girl  of  a  leading  family.  Her  parents  were 
heartbroken.  She  was  a  wee  mite  of  a  maiden  and  Nelson  was  a  great  burly 
six  footer.  But  love  and  reconciliation  prevailed.  His  young  wife  believed  in 
him  and  he  had  a  bosom  friend,  Frederick  Ross,  who  says  that  Nelson  one  day 
read  a  book  by  Doddridge,  the  hymn-writer,  and  went  out  alone  to  weep.  He 
became  convinced  of  the  insincerity  and  inconsistency  of  many  skeptical  objections 
to  religious  faith  and  his  conversion  led  to  the  story  of  his  once  famous  book. 
"Nelson  on  Infidelity."  He  was  a  wonderful  companion;  and  when  he  decided 
to  preach  the  gospel  he  and  his  friend  Ross  studied  and  were  licensed  together. 
Nelson  gave  up  a  splendid  medical  practice  for  the  ministry.  He  became  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Danville,  Kentucky,  when  Dr.  Blackburn  was 
President  of  Centre  College.  They  both  formed  the  idea  of  Manual  Labor  Col- 
leges in  Missouri  and  Illinois  and  left  Danville  to  carry  out  their  dreams.  Dr. 
Nelson    founded    Marion    College    in    Missouri    and    became    the    most    remarkable 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  9! 

evangelist  of  the  State.  He  conducted  great  camp-meeting  revivals  and  was  pastor 
and    physician    and    teacher    to    thousands    of    the    pioneers. 

Before  removing  West,  Dr.  Nelson  had  liberated  his  slaves.  He  was  con- 
vinced that  slavery  was  wrong  and  so  reasoned  among  his  friends.  He  was 
intensely  hostile  to  pride  and  selfish  luxury  and  to  the  cold  formality  of  city 
churches.  He  was  needlessly  careless  and  indifferent  to  his  own  personal  apparel 
and  appearance,  but  it  was  the  simple  pioneer  in  him.  He  gave  away  every 
dollar  in  hand  to  human  need.  He  was  silent  and  unsocial  when  pursuing  his 
religious  meditations:  and  then  he  would  open  up  conversation  or  discourse  in  a 
voice  of  irresistible  power  and  persuasion.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  who  felt 
repulsed  by  Dr.  Nelson's  rough,  uncouth  dress,  said  that  he  was  nevertheless  the 
most  masterly  pulpit  orator  in  Europe  or  America  in  his  time;  and  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridge had  heard  them  all.  He  was  compact  and  pointed  as  a  rifle  shot;  and  as 
his  convictions  against  the  sin  of  slavery  increased  upon  him  he  began  to  speak 
more  openly  and  fearlessly  even  among  the  slave  holders  of  his  Missouri  Circuit 
of  Churches.  He  became  somewhat  fanatical  on  the  subject  and  refused  to  sit 
at  the  same  Communion  Table  with  men  who  owned  human  beings.  He  fore- 
saw that  he  would  have  to  leave  Missouri  on  this  account:  and  in  the  spring  of 
183  6  while  preaching  his  farewell  sermon  at  the  Greenfield  Church  an  abolition 
member  asked  him  to  read  a  paper  proposing  to  raise  money  to  redeem  slaves 
at  the  price  desired  by  their  owners,  with  a  view  to  colonization.  A  riot  ensued, 
and  the  abolitionist  stabbed  a  leading  citizen  in  the  assault  upon  himself  and  Dr. 
Nelson.  The  Doctor  was  rushed  from  the  scene  by  his  personal  friends  just  in 
time  to  save  his  neck  from  the  mob  law  of  enraged  slave  holders.  He  was 
obliged  to  hide  in  the  underbrush  near  his  own  house  for  several  days  while 
his  enemies  scoured  the  country  looking  for  him.  While  lying  thus  concealed 
from  the  mob  he  conceived  the  idea  of  his  noted  book  on  Infidelity  and  wrote 
it  after  his  escape  into  Illinois.  In  spite  of  the  malady  of  epilepsy  which  affected 
his  later  years,  he  established  a  Collegiate  Institute  near  Quincy,  Illinois,  and 
continued  his  work  to  the  end.  He  was  such  a  noted  and  unique  man  of  God 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  must  surely  have  met  or  heard  him  on  his  rounds.  He 
was  a  close  friend  of  Henry  Clay,  Andrew  Jackson  and  other  public  men.  He 
died  at  Oakland,  near  Quincy,  Illinois.  October  17,  1844,  at  the  early  age  of 
fifty-one  years.  A  marble  monument,  erected  by  friends  in  New  York  City, 
marks  his  grave  above  the  Mississippi  River  on  a  beautiful  bluff  in  Woodland 
Cemetery. 

Dr.  Nelson's  elder  brother,  Samuel  K.  Nelson  (1787 — 1827)  was  con- 
verted and  changed  from  the  law  to  the  ministry  as  dramatically  as  his  brother 
David  from  medicine  to  the  ministry.  David  was  the  greater  orator  and  evan- 
gelist, but  Samuel  Nelson  was  reckoned  the  chief  founder  of  Centre  College,  Dan- 
ville, Kentucky,  in  1819,  and  of  the  Kentucky  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 
also  at  Danville.  His  sudden  and  tragic  death  came  while  on  a  trip  to  Florida 
in  behalf  of  the  latter  institution.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Danville  Presbyterian 
Church  at  the  time  (1827),  and  his  brother  David  succeeded  him  from  1828 
to    1830. 

THE  CONFLICT  WITH  FRENCH   INFIDELITY 

It  would  be  impossible  to  realize  and  understand  the  great  conflict  of  one 
hundred   years   ago   between    religious    faith   and   French   skepticism    if   we   did    not 


92 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


attempt  to  get  the  viewpoint  of  the  religious  people  of  that  time.  A  great  deal 
has  been  said  about  the  narrowness  and  intolerance  of  religious  people  toward 
the  liberal  ideas  of  the  French  Revolution;  but  what  we  have  in  view  just  now 
is  the  account  of  an  honest  and  sincere  gospel  minister  and  historian  of  the 
Baptist  faith,  who  pictures  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  conflict  with  a  graphic 
pen.  He  talked  to  the  surviving  pioneers  of  Dr.  Nelson's  time,  and  gives  us 
glimpses  that  are  most  intimate  and  illuminating.  This  historian  is  Rev.  J.  H. 
Spencer,  who  gave  his  life  for  hi?  history  and  suffered  untold  privations  and 
hardships   in   gathering   the   data  he   used. 

"France's  jealousy  of  England  induced  the  French  people  to  aid  the  American 
Colonists  in  breaking  off  the  British  yoke,  and  establishing  their  independence," 
says  Dr.  Spencer.  "This  established  a  warm  friendship  between  the  United 
States  and  France.  The  friendship  of  so  powerful  an  ally  as  the  latter  was  of 
incalculable    advantage    to    the    former    while    the    war    for    independence    continued. 


REV.    DAVID    NELSON 

Rev.  David  Nelson,  M.  D.,  author  of  a  more  famous 
book  against  Infidelity  long  ago  than  Dr.  James  Smith's 
noteld  "Christian  Defence."  Dr.  Nelson  was  a  hero  and 
martyr  of  the  Abolition  Crusade  in  Missouri  and  Illinois 
when    Lincoln    was    yet    a    young    man. 


But  when  the  war  was  over,  France  was  the  very  worst  of  companions  for 
grateful  and  impressible  young  America.  The  Americans  were  chiefly  of  English 
extraction.  They  spoke  the  English  language,  read  English  books,  adopted  Eng- 
lish morals  and  religion,   and  were  as  much  like  the  English  as  parent  #and  child. 

"England,  whose  morals  were  far  from  perfect,  was  nevertheless,  the  most 
moral  State  in  Europe.  Her  men  possessed  a  higher  sense  of  honor  and  integrity, 
and  her  women  a  purer  virtue  than  those  of  any  other  country  in  the  Old  World. 
Her  religion,  too,  defective  as  it  was.  conserved  a  better  code  of  morals  than  any 
other  State  religion  in  Europe.  The  American  colonists  were  of  the  very  best 
of  the  English  people,  as  to  morals  and  religion  .  .  .  But  when  a  quarrel  separated 
them,   and  engendered  an  almost  universal  feeling  of  hatred   between    the   Americans 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  93 

and  the  British  oppressors,  France  espoused  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  in  the 
hour  of  their  greatest  need.  The  affections  of  the  Americans  were  transferred 
from  England  to  France,  and  the  latter  became  the  intimate  and  trusted  friend 
of  America,  and  henceforth,  for  many  years,  exercised  a  powerful  influence  over 
her    people. 

'Tom  Paine'  was  personally  popular  with  the  American  people.  He  was 
born  and  raised  in  England.  His  parents  were  pious  Quakers.  He  came  to 
America  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  Colonies  with  much  zeal,  and,  early  in  the  year  of  1776,  published  a 
pamplet  under  the  title  of  'Common  Sense,'  in  which  he  advocated  the  propriety 
of  the  Colonies  declaring   themselves  independent   of   the   mother   country. 

"When  the  Revolution  began  in  France,  Mr.  Paine  hastened  thither  to  aid 
in  the  cause  of  universal  liberty.  He  found  the  French  people  in  every  way  dif- 
ferent from  what  he  had  found  the  Colonists.  He  found  the  Americans,  in  1775, 
resisting  the  encroachments  on  their  rights,  and  determined  to  have  'liberty  or 
death.'  He  hastened  to  publish  a  pamphlet,  exhorting  them  to  do  what  he  saw 
they  had  already  determined  to  do.  This  pleased  them  and  they  honored  him 
as  a  patriot. 

"When  he  reached  France,  near  the  beginning  of  her  Revolution,  he  found 
the  strongest  passion  of  the  French  people  to  be  hatred  of  revealed  religion.  He 
hastened  to  write  a  book  against  the  Bible.  It  was  titled,  'The  Age  of  Reason.' 
and  was  published  in  1794.  The  book  was  of  no  consequence  in  France,  since 
the  French  people  had  the  works  of  their  own   eminent   men  on  the  same  subject. 

"But  'The  Age  of  Reason'  was  just  the  book  for  the  backwoods  of  America, 
and  was  just  from  the  scource  to  make  it  most  popular.  It  was  written  in  the 
darling  French  Republic,  and  by  the  honored  patriot,  Paine.  It  was  printed  in 
cheap  pamphlet  form,  and  circulated  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  immense 
numbers.  It  could  be  seen  in  the  cabin  of  the  farmer,  on  the  bench  of  the  tailor, 
in  the  shops  of  the  smith  and  the  carpenter,  on  the  table  of  the  lawyer,  and  at 
the  desk  of  the  physician.  It  was  not  put  by  the  side  of  the  Bible,  but  it  was 
used  instead  of  the  Bible. 

"Bibles  and  all  other  religious  books  were  extremely  scarce  in  the  West  at 
that  period.  ...  At  this  period  'infidel  principles  prevailed  to  an  alarming 
extent  in  the  Eastern  States.'  They  were  fashionable  in  the  gay  and  literary 
circles  of  society;  they  were  prevalent  in  Yale  College  and  other  similar  institu- 
tions: and  a  very  general  impression  existed  that  Christianity  was  supported  by 
human   authority,    and   not  by   argument. 

"But  infidelity  prevailed  in  a  cruder  form  and  to  a  much  greater  extent  in 
the  West.  Mr.  Peck  says,  'Infidelity  became  prevalent  in  high  places,  and  was 
identified  with  liberal  principles  in  government.  It  was  the  general  opinion 
among  intelligent  Christians,  that  towards  the  close  of  the  century,  a  majority 
of  the  population  were  either  avowedly  infidels,  or  skeptically  inclined.  There 
were  few  men  of  the  professions  of  law  or  physic,  who  would  avow  their 
belief  in   the  truth   of  Christianity.' 

"It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  what  is  a  universal  concomitant,  that 
immorality  abounded  among  the  people  in  proportion  to  the  prevalency  of 
infidelity.  Drunkenness,  licentiousness,  and  gambling,  prevailed  to  an  alarming 
extent,  and  were  often  made  subjects  of  merriment  and  shameless  boasting,  rather 
than    occasions    for   shame   and    sorrow." 


94  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Unquestionably,  it  was  this  form  of  skepticism  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
encountered  continually  in  his  earlier  years,  and  that  must  have  made  a  very 
deep  impression  upon  him  at  that  period  of  his  life.  Hence,  it  was  necessary 
that  he  pass  through  the  deeper  waters  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  such  as  over- 
whelmed him  in  the  death  of  Ann  Rutledge,  in  1835,  and  of  his  little  son, 
Eddie,  in  February,  1850  ere  he  could  lay  hold  on  God  with  a  faith  and  confi- 
dence destined  to  carry  him  even  through  the  darkest  hours  of  Civil  War.  In 
this  experience  Lincoln  was  at  one  with  David  Nelson,  James  Smith  and  other 
men  who  at  first  found  satisfaction  in  the  promising  philosophy  of  revolt  devoid 
of  the  spiritual  vision  and  impulse.  No  doubt  the  hard  and  fanatical  religionists 
of  the  time  were  exceedingly  repulsive  to  men  like  these,  and  we  here  encounter 
&  type  of  mature  intellectual,  moral,  spiritual  and  social  awakening  that  is  astound- 
ing to  the  average  and  formal  religionist.  It  is  a  phenomenon  with  which  he  is 
entirely  unacquainted;  and  of  which  he  is  perhaps  even  suspicious.  Hence  it 
takes  the  tremendous  impress  of  times  like  our  Civil  War,  and  of  the  soul  agony 
of  the  great  martyr  President  himself,  laying  down  his  life  for  Freedom  and 
Union,    to   convince   the   conventional    and   to   satisfy    the   skeptical. 

There  be  some,  perhaps,  who  will  cavil  at  the  apparently  out-of-date 
arguments  used  by  David  Nelson  and  James  Smith  in  their  books  of  long  ago 
in  defense  of  the  Christian  religion.  Men  will  say  that  Lincoln  was  a  super- 
ficial fellow  to  accept  such  arguments  as  conclusive  when  the  age  of  science  and 
reason  was  dawning  over  his  head.  But  it  was  the  experience  of  the  Most  High 
in  the  soul  of  man  at  the  crucial  moment  of  destiny,  and  the  hour  of  direst  need 
and  struggle  and  agony,  that  convinced  Lincoln,  and  Nelson,  and  Smith.  "The 
Glory  in  His  Bosom  that  transfigures  you  and  me"  was  a  fact  that  no  doubter 
could  deny  and  no  skeptic  successfully  question.  It  is,  therefore,  of  supreme 
importance  that  we  get  the  significance  of  Dr.  James  Smith  and  Dr.  Phineas 
Gurley,  Lincoln's  pastors  in  Springfield  and  Washington  City,  talking  and  praying 
with  him  until  the  cloud  of  despair  and  suspense  lifted  into  a  calm  and  peace 
of  resignation  and  hope.  It  was  this  precious  experience  and  trust  that  humble 
and  good  men  of  long  ago  defended  against  the  paralyzing  spell  and  pall  of 
French   atheism. 


CHAPTER   XIX 


^im.'mtTig  mnh  Iht  (Mfe  anb  plttn 


^\*\  R-  GIDEON  BLACKBURN  came  to  Louisville  under  peculiarly  tragic 
1  circumstances.  An  epidemic  of  malignant  fever  swept  over  the  city 
jp^i  fJ  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1822.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church 
lost  some  of  its  leading  members,  and  the  pastor,  Rev.  Daniel  Smith, 
by  the  disease;  and  the  church  doors  were  closed  for  a  time.  Dr.  Blackburn  was 
earnestly  invited  to  visit  the  congregation,  which  he  did;  and  after  a  revival 
meeting  of  two  weeks  with  crowds  in  attendance,  was  called  to  the  pastorate. 
He  accepted  and  remained  till  he  became  President  of  Centre  College  in    1827. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  had  arisen  out  of  the  Great  Revival 
of  1800  when  Father  David  Rice  suggested  the  training  of  promising  young  men 
right  on  the  ground  to  supply  the  crying  need  for  preachers  and  pastors.  A  con- 
troversy was  precipitated  over  the  educational  fitness  and  the  free  interpretation 
of  doctrine  by  these  young  men:  and  the  Cumberland  Church  asserted  its  inde- 
pendence and  founded  a  Manual  Labor  College  at  Princeton,  Kentucky,  in  1826. 
Underneath  this  doctrinal  revolt  was  a  democratic  tendency  which  the  deep 
reader  of  social  history  cannot  ignore.  Hanover  College,  Indiana,  was  founded 
a  few  years  later  by  John  Finley  Crowe  on  the  same  Manual  Labor  basis.  Lane 
Seminary  was  projected  with  a  similar  ideal  in  view  by  those  students  for  the 
ministry  who  were  opposed  to  African  slavery.  "A  School  of  the  Prophets"  in 
the  forest  was  their  conception.  And  when  Dr.  Blackburn  left  Centre  College 
to  found  a  Manual  Labor  College  at  Carlinville,  Illinois,  he  was  consciously 
moved  by   the  same   deep   instinct   of   democracy. 

Dr.  Blackburn  and  the  Beechers  were  too  sound  in  the  Calvinistic  faith  to 
make  any  theological  contention:  but  the  tide  toward  human  liberty,  which 
manifested  itself  in  the  New  School  movement  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  rocked 
the  Presbyterian  Church  to  its  very  foundations  and  finally  led  to  the  division 
between  the  Old  School  and  the  New.  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  was  the  storm  center 
of  this  great  struggle  in  the  Eastern  States.  He  was  a  man  of  marvelous  spiritual 
perception  and  patient  courage:  and  he  stood  out  boldly  against  slavery.  Dr. 
Blackburn,  Dr.  Crowe,  the  Beechers  and  others,  led  the  Anti-Slavery  Movement 
in   the  West. 

It  is  a  peculiarly  significant  fact  of  history  that  conservative  Emancipationists 
like  Robert  J.  Breckinridge  and  John  C.  Young  in  Kentucky  declined  all  doctrinal 
controversy  with  Alexander  Campbell,  while  the  brilliant  and  aggressive  Nathan 
L.  Rice,  who  met  Campbell  like  a  David  before  Goliath,  was  the  readiest  and 
most  resourceful  defender  of  slavery  in  all  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Collins' 
History  of  Kentucky  traces  his  masterly  efforts  to  throttle  and  thwart  the  Aboli- 
tion   teaching   and   tendency   in   all    the   colleges   and   seminaries   of   the   church:    but 


96  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


in  spite  of  his  best  efforts,  Lane  and  McCormick  Seminaries  became  imbued  with 
the  sentiment  of  human  freedom:  and  after  the  issue  of  Slavery  was  settled 
forever  the  Old  and  New  School  controversy  was  a  dead  issue  also. 

Nathan  L.  Rice  as  pastor  in  Cincinnati  was  challenged  to  a  debate  on  Slavery 
by  Salmon  P.  Chase  and  nine  other  leading  citizens,  who  selected  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Blanchard  to  represent  them.  The  debate  was  held  in  September,  1846,  on 
the  question,  "Is  Slavery  in  Itself  Sinful;  and  the  Relation  between  the  Master 
and  the  Slave  a  Sinful  Relation?"  Dr.  Blanchard  affirmed  and  Dr.  Rice  denied. 
In  1845,  when  the  Old  School  General  Assembly  was  in  session  at  Cincinnati, 
Dr.  Rice  was  Chairman  of  the  Committe  to  which  many  anti-slavery  petitions 
were  referred;  and  he  made  a  report  that  terminated  the  agitation  of  the  question 
in  the  Old  School  Assembly  and  stamped  it  as  conservative.  In  1855,  at  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  he  was  elected  moderator  of  the  Old  School  Assembly:  and  when 
the  subject  of  Slavery  was  again  introduced  by  some  Congregational  delegates  from 
New  England,  Dr.  Rice  addressed  "Ten  Letters"  to  them  in  pamphlet  form, 
defending  Slavery.  Whereupon  the  Assembly  elected  him  visiting  delegate  to  the 
Consociation  of  Rhode  Island  in  185  6  where  he  defended  the  position  of  the 
Old  School  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  Slavery.  The  Abolition  side  was  repre- 
sented by  other  able  men.  Dr.  Rice  believed  that  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Hanover  and  New  Albany,  Indiana,  had  fallen  under  Aboltion  influence;  and  he 
favored  and  promoted  a  Seminary  at  Cincinnati  to  counteract  the  work  of  the 
Beechers.  He  afterward  fought  the  Abolition  influence  in  the  founding  of 
McCormick  Seminary  in  Chicago.  Thus  he  passed  into  history  as  the  most 
brilliant  doctrinal  debater  and  defender  of  Slavery  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
He  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Blackburn  at  Centre  College.  He  was  in  many  ways 
a  self-made  man,  and  he  held  the  foremost  pastorates  in  the  gift  of  the  church. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  his  theory  of  eliminating  all  social  and  political 
questions  from  discussion  in  religious  bodies  would  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
church:  but  it  would  be  the  peace  of  death  and  the  stifling  of  all  such  conviction 
and  vision  as  Father  David  Rice  and  his  heroic  followers  shared  on  the  subject 
of  human  slavery.  These  men  were  not  priestly  time-servers.  They  were 
prophets  of  God  and  Forerunners  of  Freedom  whose  vision  of  right  human 
relationship  squared  well   with   their  mystic   and  devoted  faith. 


CHAPTER    XX 


f^^^**  HERE   CAN   be   no   question    that   Dr.    N.    L.    Rice   had   eminent   legal 
I     I  "^  authority    on    his    side    of    this    historic    controversy.       It    was    the 

V  j  y  positive    conviction    of    Thomas    Jefferson    that    the    pastoral    office 

mM  was  purely  spiritual  and  that  no  discussion  or  preaching  on  political 

issues  was  possible  without  a  breach  of  contract.  The  minister  was  employed 
by  his  people  to  teach  them  religion,  said  Jefferson,  and  in  that  capacity  he  was 
a  specialist  and  exceeded  his  function  and  calling  when  he  presumed  to  lecture 
the  congregation  on  astronomy,  economics,  or  political  science.  This  was  the 
theory  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  yet  Jefferson's  biographer,  Randall,  says 
the  clergy  of  the  Establishment  in  Virginia  were  without  exception  on  the  side 
of  freedom  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  It  was  Jefferson's  conviction  that 
ministers  of  the  gospel  outside  of  the  pastoral  office  were  free  citizens  like  ever/ 
other  profession  and  had  the  same  right  and  liberty  to  hold  and  publish  their 
political  opinions:  but  that  in  the  church  no  majority  had  a  moral  or  legal  right 
to  impose  or  proclaim  their  political  or  social  views  over  the  heads  of  a  minority. 
This  conviction  with  Jefferson  arose  out  of  his  fundamental  ideas  on  the  separa- 
tion of  church  and  state  and  the  absolute  impossibility  of  the  one  encroaching 
upon  the  domain  of  the  other  without  serious  danger  to  personal  and  social 
liberty.  Evidently  Father  David  Rice  was  well  aware  of  these  principles  enunci- 
ated by  Jefferson,  who  was  a  strong  emancipationist  like  himself  in  Old  Virginia: 
for  Father  Rice  published  his  address  against  Slavery  anonymously:  and  it  was 
as  a  member  of  the  first  Constitutional  Convention  of  Kentucky  that  he  made 
his    memorable   stand    against    the    institution    publicly. 

The  instinct  of  the  Protestant  Church  to  avoid  entangling  alliances  with 
social  and  political  issues  arrises  out  of  her  age-long  struggle  for  spiritual  liberty 
and  separation  from  the  state:  and  the  bitter  personal  and  political  attack  made 
on  Jefferson  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Mitchell  Mason,  the  leading  and  most  eloquent 
Presbyterian  pastor  in  New  York  City,  in  1800,  confirmed  the  truth  of  Jef- 
ferson's original  principle;  because  Dr.  Mason  was  a  warm  partisan  and  eulogist 
of  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  his  denunciations  of  Jefferson  were  entirely  out  of 
place  and  reflect  on  his  otherwise  eminent  reputation  as  a  minister  of  Christ. 
Jefferson's  biographer,  Randall,  says  the  prejudice  of  Dr.  Mason,  and  nearly  all 
the  New  England  clergy  of  that  day  against  Jefferson  was  because  he  had  accomp- 
lished the  separation  of  Church  and  State  in  Virginia,  and  it  did  not  come  to 
pass  in  New  England   until  about    1818. 

But  the  biographer  Randall  is  entirely  just  in  his  discussion  of  so  great  a 
subject  as  the  rightful  province  of  the  ministry  in  social  and  political  issues.      He 


98  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

says  that  Jefferson  was  never  understood  in  New  England  and  never  himself 
understood  the  New  England  character.  "He  was  a  man  of  essentially  another 
mental  race  or  type.  He  was  bred  where  every  peculiarity  of  social  and  political 
life  was  as  different  as  if  oceans  rolled  between  the  two  lands. 

"Least  of  all,  did  Mr.  Jefferson  understand  the  New  England  Clergy.  He 
had  been  bred  among  the  Scotch  and  English  divines  of  the  Anglican  Establish- 
ment of  Virginia,  before  the  Revolution.  A  large  proportion  of  them  were  born 
in  Great  Britain;  or  were  educated  by  clergymen  born  there.  They  were  accord- 
ingly accustomed  to  the  forms  of  English  Society.  They  lived  among  a  class 
of  wealthy  proprietors,  to  whom  the  members  of  all  the  learned  professions  looked 
up  rather  than  looked  down.  It  had  never  been  the  custom  in  the  Anglican 
Church  for  its  clergy  to  interfere  actively  in  the  political  and  other  secular 
concerns  of  their  neighborhood.  They  were,  as  a  general  thing,  cultivated 
gentlemen,  who  preached  on  the  Sabbath,  and  centented  themselves  the  rest  of 
the  time  in  keeping  classical  schools  or  in  enjoying  the  quiet  of  domestic  life. 
They  educated  the  superior  young  men  of  their  parishes — they  united  them  in 
marriage — they  baptized  their  children — they  read  the  burial  service  over  their 
graves.  Their  lives  glided  along  without  a  ripple  of  contention  or  excitement. 
They  were  welcome  guests  at  the  board  and  never  chilled  its  geniality.  They 
looked  smilingly  on  public  amusements,  if  they  did  not  personally  join  in  them. 
They  took  no  greater  freedoms  than  other  gentlemen  in  inquiring  into  or  com- 
menting on  the  private  concerns  and  conduct  of  their  parishoners.  Mr.  Jefferson 
avers  they  were  indolent  compared  with  the  dissenting  clergy.  This  was  partly 
owing  to  the  different  customs  of  churches,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  possessors 
are  never  so  active  as  those  who  are  striving  for  possession.  If  they  did  not 
meddle  habitually  in  politics,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  they  believed  or 
practiced  the  doctrine  of  political  submission.  We  have  yet  to  see  the  first 
historical  proof  that  the  Angican  clergy  of  Virginia  did  not  keep  full  pace  with 
the  sentiment  of  the  country,  and  with  that  of  their  dissenting  brethren  in  the 
patriotic    cause"     (of    the    American    Revolution) . 

With  clear  discernment  the  biographer  Randall  characterizes  the  altogether 
different  type  of  Puritan  ministers  of  the  gospel:  "The  early  New  England  Clergy 
were  the  descendants  in  blood,  or  by  the  traditions  of  their  order,  of  those  zealous 
sectaries  who  had  been  hunted  to  caverns  like  beasts,  tortured,  exiled,  and  executed 
in  Scotland — and  who  had  prayed,  counselled,  exhorted  to  battle,  if  not  literally 
fought,  in  the  armies  of  Cromwell  in  England.  They  led  their  religious  flocks 
to  the  wild  New  England  shore,  not  as  gentle  shepherds  piping  on  reeds  in 
Arcadian  valleys,  but  like  the  armed  ones  of  the  Pyrenees,  prepared  to  grapple 
with  the  wolf  and  the  robber  in  defense  of  their  charge.  Like  all  persecuted 
men,  they  were  intolerant.  Like  all  men  who  arc  compelled  to  give  up  country 
and  kindred  and  face  danger  and  suffering  for  their  religious  faith,  they  were 
fanatical.  Like  all  leaders  of  new  sects  springing  up  in  corrupt  and  licentious 
eras,  they  were  rigid  and  austere  in  manners,  not  only  denouncing  the  vices  of 
the  times,  but  those  customs  and  manners  with  which  vice  had  been  particularly 
associated — as  statute  books  impose  penalties  on  healthful  and  innocent  games 
because   they   are   connected   by   custom    with   forbidden   practices. 

"The  prominent  emigrations  to  New  England  were  purely  religious 
Exoduses.  The  exiles  left  their  native  land,  or  that  where  they  temporarily 
sojourned,    and    made    their    settlements    in    New    England,    as    Churches.       They 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  FORERUNNERS  99 

formed  civil  organizations,  because  they  were  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  govern- 
mental functions,  which  prevailing  ideas  among  Protestants  had  kept  separate  from 
those  exercised  by  ecclesiastical  tribunals.  Yet  the  church  principle  or  influence 
was  completely  the  dominant  one  in  these  societies.  It  made  public  opinion.  It 
j£ave  or  took  away  personal  influence.  It,  in  effect,  made  the  laws  and  made 
/he  magistrates.  With  the  Puritans,  religion  was,  theoretically,  the  chief  concern 
of  life.  Temporary  matters  were  but  secondary  and  incidental.  The  Bible  was 
the  complete  rule  of  civil  as  well  as  of  religious  conduct   .... 

"If  the  .church  influence  controlled  everything,  'the  minister'  was  usually  by 
far  the  most  influential  person  in  the  church.  If  a  man  of  ability,  energy  and 
approved  piety — and  none  others  could  gather  flocks  to  leave  the  quiet  rural 
homes  of  England  for  transatlantic  wastes — his  influence  amounted  to  a  complete 
control  ....  The  New  England  Calvinist,  towards  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century,  had  put  off  the  austerity  and  bigotry  of  the  Puritan.  Royal  governors 
had  made  destructive  inroads  on  the  hierophanic  authority.  Republican  com- 
monwealths had  succeeded  to  royal  governors.  The  civil  administration  had 
ceased  to  be  absorbed  in  and  entirely  dependent  on  the  church.  The  authority 
of  the  spiritual  guide  was  no  longer  paramount.  Still  it  was  powerful.  Still 
the  New  England  Clergy  were  able,  energetic  men,  educated  well  in  their  profes- 
sion, and  versed  in  the  art  of  controlling  associations  of  men.  The  iron  New 
England  industry  and  the  compact  New  England  mind,  would  endure  neither 
drones  nor  weak  expounders  of  the  word.  New  England  utilitarianism  would 
have  'the  worth  of  its  money'  even  from  the  pulpit.  Still  the  New  England 
clergyman,  by  tradition  and  custom,  was  in  all  things  the  moral  adviser  of  the 
people. 

"How  could  it  be  otherwise  among  such  precedents,  and  with  a  clergy  thus 
constituted?  In  performing  the  daily  duties  of  their  charge  with  patient  and 
unslacking  zeal — in  watching  over  and  entreating  the  young — in  fearlessly  admon- 
ishing the  old — in  undauntedly  attacking  vice  in  high  places — in  guarding  the 
rights  and  administering  to  the  wants  of  the  poor  and  the  fatherless — in  pro- 
tecting the  orphans  of  their  people — in  braving  squalor  and  pestilence  to  stand 
over  the  bedside  of  the  dying — in  advancing  within  the  dangerous  verge  of  the 
battle,  or  braving  the  winter  tempest  to  save  the  life  of  the  bleeding  soldier  or 
the  stranded  mariner;  or  to  administer  the  consolations  of  religion  to  the  perish- 
ing— in  promoting  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  culture — in  establishing  useful 
institutions  of  learning — in  founding  noble  charities — in  inculcating  a  resolute 
patriotism,  and  a  sound,  vigorous  moral  system — no  clergy  ever  did  or  ever  can 
excel   that   of   the   Puritan   Church   of   New   England." 

The  bioghapher  Randall  points  out  "their  disagreeable  qualities  and  their 
rough  side.  They  were  thick,  gnarled  New  England  oaks,  which  had  rooted 
in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks,  and  grown  up  under  bleak  skies  and  amidst  wintry 
tempests — not  the  tall,  graceful  palms  of  the  tropics.  They  lacked  the  finishing 
touches  of  that  elegant  culture  which  softens  while  it  polishes.  They  lacked  the 
amenities  and  delicacies  of  high  social  refinement.  They  retained  a  good  deal  of 
the   dogmatism    and    contentiousness    of    the    Puritan." 

From  this  strong,  aggressive  spiritual  stock  sprang  the  Beechcrs  and  other 
notable  Abolitionists.  They  were  not  hesitant  about  declaring  what  they  con- 
ceived to  be  the  whole  counsel  of  God  on  the  subject  of  holding  human  beings 
in   bondage.      No    fine   scruples    of   pastoral    propriety    or   spiritual    prudence   with- 


100  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

held  the  truth  that  was  on  their  tongue;  and  the  coming  of  Lyman  Beecher  to 
Lane  Seminary  one  hundred  years  ago   was  a  call   of  God  indeed. 

Lyman  Beecher  was  the  greatest  of  all  anti-slavery  leaders  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  His  ancestors  came  from  England  to  New  Haven,  Connecticut 
in  163  8.  There  was  a  widow  Beecher,  a  nurse  and  midwife,  who  lost  her 
husband  just  before  sailing:  and  they  gave  her  his  share  of  land  to  come  on  and 
serve  the  community.  The  first  sermon  was  preached  under  an  oak  on  her  land: 
and  her  descendant,  David  Beecher,  a  blacksmith  whose  anvil  was  on  the  stump 
of  that  old  oak  tree,  was  the  father  of  Lyman  Beecher  and  the  grandfather  of 
Henry  Ward.  Lyman  Beecher  was  his  mother's  only  child.  She  died  of  tuber- 
culosis two  days  after  he  was  born:  and  he  was  a  seven  month's  child.  He  was 
such  a  puny  babe  that  the  women  attending  his  mother  wished  he  would  die 
also,  and  only  washed  and  dressed  him  out  of  pity.  His  kindest  foster-parent 
and   spiritual   preceptor   was   the   nurse   girl,    Annis. 

Lyman  Beecher's  father  was  a  strong  character,  but  he  used  to  have  periods 
of  the  dyspeptic  blues  about  the  expense  of  his  son  at  Yale  College.  The  good 
stepmother  took  Lyman's  part  and  told  the  father  to  use  her  share  of  the  inheri- 
tance to  finish  that  boy's  education.  But  Lyman  hustled  around  and  made  some 
money  by  trading  and  proved  he  was  no  weakling  or  dependent.  It  was  his 
Uncle  Bob  Benton,  on  whose  farm  he  was  raised,  after  his  mother's  death,  that 
encouraged  and  helped  him  through  college.  Yale  at  that  time  was  terribly 
afflicted  with  French  skepticism,  and  the  student  life  was  full  of  gaming,  drink- 
ing, and  licentiousness.  Lyman  Beecher  says  he  wonders  how  he  escaped  the 
contamination  of  it.  But  Timothy  Dwight  came  soon  after  and  changed  the 
entire  atmosphere.  Lyman  Beecher's  early  contract  with  skepticism  and  dissipation 
gave  him  a  faculty  of  dealing  with  these  evils  in  a  most  direct  and  winning  way. 
He  was  called  to  his  first  pastorate  at  East  Hampton,  Long  Island,  by  the  choice 
of  the  young  people,  and  because  he  seemed  capable  of  encountering  a  club  of 
skeptics  in  the  community.  He  did  not  antagonize  them  but  won  them  by 
personal  contact  and  clear  gospel  preaching.  He  lost  his  first  child  there:  and 
years  afterward  a  skeptic  of  the  community,  out  of  sympathy  and  love  for  Lyman 
Beecher,  had  the  little  body  exhumed  and  reburied  on  his  own  lot,  "because  it 
is  so  lonely  over  there  all  by  itself,"  he  said. 

Lyman  Beecher  became  a  reformer  by  force  of  circumstances.  He  preached 
a  memorable  sermon  against  duelling  after  the  death  of  Hamilton  at  the  hands 
of  Burr.  This  tragedy  stirred  his  soul  to  action  and  he  moved  the  church  to 
condemn  the  terrible  custom.  He  was  the  leader  also  in  changing  the  convivial 
customs  of  church  assemblies  in  New  England  long  ago:  and  the  mystic  spirit 
of  the  man  devoted  itself  instinctively  to  the  cause  of  the  slave.  The  parish 
where  he  lived  in  New  England  had  a  dozen  slaves  in  it  when  he  was  a  boy. 
But  this  was  a  mild  servitude. 


JONATHAN  JENNINGS 


CHAPTER   XXI 


f%  ®ib  £tiSltt**  Mttitn 


SI    T  WAS  Thursday,   August   6,    1891.      "The  Old  Settlers'    Day.-'   years 
f%  ^4         ago   at  Charlestown,    Indiana. 

X^_,^X  The    writer    was    then    a    youth    home    from    college,    eager    to 

display  his  oratorical  talent  among  the  Hoosiers.  Every  college  boy 
in  old  Kentucky  is  a  budding  Henry  Clay,  ambitious  to  make  his  debut  on  the 
hustings. 

So  it  did  not  take  much  urging  from  our  fond  and  kindly  mother  to  per- 
suade us  to  attend  the  Old  Settlers'  Meetin'.  We  carefully  wrote  out  and  com- 
mitted to  memory  our  "extempore  remarks"  for  the  occasion  and  down  in  the 
corn  field,  out  of  hearing,  we  practiced  the  fervid  patriotic  periods  to  our 
entire    satisfaction. 

We  spent  the  night  with  our  wealthy  relatives  in  the  city  and  took  the 
early  morning  train  for  Charlestown.  Our  good  uncle  bade  us  godspeed  in  the 
enthusiastic   undertaking: 

"Now   you   must   lay   the   Congressman   himself   in   the   shade!" 

So  we  felt  the  weight  of  our  own  importance  as  we  watched  the  crowd 
thronging  every  station  on  the  road,  wondering  if  they  could  be  aware  that  a 
new  star  would  that  day  be  seen  on  the  horizon  of  the  nation!  But  they  jostled 
us  unceremoniously,  and  we  began  to  wonder  what  they  would  think  and  say 
if   we   forgot   our   "extempore   remarks." 

A   local   chronicler   thus   describes   the   great   occasion: 

"Early  in  the  morning  the  influx  began.  The  weather  was  as  perfect  as 
August  brings.  The  roads,  fringed  with  growing  corn,  broad  meadows  and  shaded 
woodlands,  were  crowded  with  vehicles,  raising  the  dust  in  an  almost  solid 
cloud.  But  nobody  seemed  to  mind  it.  Nearly  every  conveyance  bore,  besides 
its  human  load,  the  best  of  eatables  the  provident  housewife  had  been  able  to 
prepare. 

"Everybody  halted  awhile  in  the  fair  summer  city  of  Charlestown  and  then 
proceeded  to  the  fair-grounds.  Those  who  came  by  trains  found  ample  accom- 
modations in  the  wagons  that  ran  back  and  forth.  The  fair-ground,  with  its 
broad  fringe  of  shade,  looked  like  a  wagon  camp.  Hundreds  of  buggies,  carriages 
and  farm  wagons  halted  under  the  leafy  shelter  and  every  available  space. 

"Fully  six  thousand  people  were  on  the  grounds,  and  they  all  enjoyed 
themselves.  Neighbors  and  friends  who  had  not  met  for  sometime,  old  time 
companions  and  acquaintances,  hobnobbed  here  and  there  shaking  hands  and 
rejoicing    to    meet    once    more. 

"In  Floral  Hall  the  fiddles  twanged  and  feet  moved  rapidly  in  quadrille 
and  waltz.  At  the  refreshment  booths  melons,  candy  and  lemonade  vanished 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  while  at  the  grand  stand  the  speech- making  had 
begun." 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  103 

THE  ORATORS  OF  THE  DAY 

We  were  as  eager  as  Saul  of  old  to  be  found  among  the  prophets!  The 
master  of  ceremonies  was  a  tall,  gaunt,  genial  old  Christian  minister,  Father 
Jackson,  who  so  resembled  Uncle  Sam  that  it  redoubled  ones'  patriotism  to 
contemplate  him. 

But  our  name  was  not  down  on  the  program!  We  were  a  mere  youth 
at  this  meeting  of  the  old  men!  Yet  we  were  determined  to  obtain  an  audience  and 
to  prove  our  fitness  to  shine  with  county  attorneys,  preachers  and  Congressmen! 

Wc  had  modestly  confided  to  our  kindly  old  aunt,  with  whom  we  bad 
come  and  whose  guest  we  were,  that  we  earnestly  desired  to  make  a  few  "extem- 
pore remarks"  as  a  Kentucky  visitor.  She  seconded  our  endeavor  heartily,  but 
"Uncle  Sam"  was  so  busy  with  the  big  guns  that  it  seemed  very  doubtful 
whether  we  would   get  a  chance  to  rise  in   glory  to   renown! 

Yet  we  were  not  to  be  left  out!  Slipping  around  to  the  rear  of  the 
speakers  stand,  we  modestly  but  firmly  pulled  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  long  coat- 
tails  and  whispered  in  his  ear  that  there  was  a  youth  from  over  the  Ohio  river 
who  wished  to  say  a  few  words  for  his  native  State.  Uncle  Sam  smiled  very 
doubtfully,   inquiring  who  the  ambitious   youth   might   be,    receiving   the   response: 

"It  is  I,   good  sir." 

So  he  promised  to  remember  us  at  the  close  of  the  exercises. 

"UNCLE  DAN"   MAKES  A  HIT 

"Uncle  Dan"  was  the  first  speaker  introduced  by  the  worthy  chairman, 
and  Uncle  Dan  proceeded  in  his  own  homely  style: 

"I  hain't  come  here  to  make  no  speech  today,  but  jes'  to  talk  to  my  ole 
friends  off-hand-like,  you  see!  My  daddy  came  to  these  diggin's  in  1812.  They 
wuz  redskins,  b'ars  and  sichlike  all  thru  this  neck  of  the  woods  when  they 
come.  They  wuzn't  no  opperchunity  fer  no  eddycashun  nowher's  hereabouts 
in  them  days;  but  now  hit  takes  a  youngster  half  his  lifetime  to  git  thu  school 
hit  does. 

"In  them  there  days  we  brats  never  got  no  shoes  to  wear  tel  plum  nigh  on 
to  Chris'mus,  an'  then  we  had  to  make  'em  las'  tel  winter  broke.  I  ricollec's 
hearin'  my  daddy  say  that  the  daddy  and  mammy  of  Gov'nor  Wright  didn't 
hev  no  weddin'  outfit  to  make  no  fuss  over,  they  didn't.  The  ole  man  jes' 
had  one  cotton  shirt  an'  a  pair  o'  jeans  britches,  an'  wuz  barefooted  when 
he  promised   to  stick  by  his  ole  woman   thu   thick  an'    thin. 

"The  ole  woman,  she  had  one  cotton  dress  an'  a  pair  of  brogan  shoes, 
she  did.  But  young'ns  now  hev  to  be  rigged  out  in  they  Sunday  best,  they 
does.  I'se  raised  a  half-dozen  brats  myself,  I  hev,  an'  ever'one  of  'em  hez 
to  be  dressed  up  in  silks  and  satins  'fore  they  thinks  of  goin'  to  the  Ole  Settler' 
Meetin'. 

"Farm  stock  wuz  mighty  poor  in  them  days,  hit  wuz,  an'  roads!  Law  see! 
I  never  went  to  Madison  thet  I  didn't  get  mired  on  every  hill  I  cum  to.  Then 
think  of  takin'  six  an'  a  half  cents  a  bushel  fer  oats!  Yer  couldn't  git  but 
three-twenty   for   the  hull   load,    yer   couldn't,    by   jimminy! 

"An'  by  the  time  ye  got  the  baby  a  pair  o'  shoes,  ye  didn't  hav  nothin' 
let'   for  a  good  beer! 


104 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


"Times  is  gittin'  better  now,  they  is,  an'  they  haint  no  excuse  fer  a  young 
man  not  takin'  his  gal  and  gittin'  along  these  days.  Lemmy  tell  you  young 
folks  to  take  good  keer  of  the  old  daddy  an'  mammy.  They  keered  fer  you 
when  you  wuz  little,  they  did,  an'  one  o'  these  days  when  they  close  them  ole 
eyes  o'  ther'ne  and  fold  them  knoted  ole  hands  for  the  las'  sleep,  you'll  wish 
ye  had  been  kinder  thoughtful-like  of  the  ole  folks,  you  will.  When  Gineral 
Washington  wuz  a-goin  to  Bunker  Hill  he  went  six  miles  out  o'  his  way  to 
see  his  ole  mother,  he  did,   an'  he  didn't  ferget  her  when  he  wuz  a  big  man!" 


"UNCLE    BILL"    WOOD 

"Uncle  Bill"  Wood,  of  Utica,  Indiana.  A  prince  of  pioneers — descended 
from  North  Carolina  Scotch-Irish  of  the  bravest  Covenanter  stock.  Uncie 
Bill's  ancestors  settled  at  Utica.  They  fought  with  George  Rogers  (Murk's 
men  at  the  Falls.  They  were  with  Jonathan  Jennings  in  his  Aroti -Slavery 
Campaign.  Uncle  Bill  was  a  riverrman  from  his  youth  up.  He  was  a  poet, 
philosopher  'and  humorist.  He  wanted  to  become  a  minister  in  his  youth 
but  went  to  the  Civil  War  and  then  became  a  leader  of  the  lime- burners. 
He   was   a   local    Walt    Whitman    to   the    last. 


INSPIRATION  AND  PERSPIRATION 

Uncle  Dan  mopped  his  perspiring  brow,  rubbed  his  silk  hat.  and  drank 
oil   a  couple  of  glasses  of  water,   then   resumed: 

"They's  jes'  one  more  thing  I'sc  goin'  tcr  say  'fore  I  sets  down,  an'  thet's 
this  here:  We  don't  want  no  stylish  scamps  misrepresentin'  us  in  offis,  we 
don't!  When  Govncr  Jennings  wuz  a  runnin'  fer  offis  he  mixed  up  with 
folks  in  his  workin'  clothes,  he  did,  you  bet  he  did;  an'  he  took  holt  when- 
ever they   wuz  a  lick   of  work   to  be  struck. 

"Seems  to  me  a  horny-handed  farmer  is  good  enough  to  go  to  Ingenop'lis. 
even    ef    hit    take    him    a    hull    month    to    git    the    hayseed    outtcn    his    hair.       Us 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  105 

Hoosiers  is  proud  that  the  poorest  chillun  gits  to  go  to  school  'longside  o'  the 
rich  dudes,  we  does,  an'  we's  agoin'  to  hump  ourselves  to  keep  up  weth  the 
band-wagon,   we  is!" 

Uncle  Dan  closed  by  calling  attention  to  the  neglected  grave  of  Gov- 
ernor Jennings  in  the  old  town  cemetery  and  paid  an  honest  tribute  to  the 
brave  young  Presbyterian  attorney  and  Freemason  who  made  his  fight  and 
staked  his  future  on  keeping  slavery  out  of  the  Indiana  constitution  in  1816. 
It  is  needless  to  add  that  he  won  the  fight  and  that  the  worthy  monument 
afterward  erected  over  the  last  resting  place  was  in  part  due  to  the  homely  elo- 
quence of  Uncle  Dan  that  Old  Settlers'  Day. 

THE  HONORABLE  SPREADEAGLE 

A  patriotic  State  Senator  was  next  introduced  and  proceeded  to  read  off 
his  eloquent  periods  with  many  graceful  gestures.  We  watched  his  waving  coat- 
tails  in  utter  despair,  feeling  sure  he  would  consume  every  inch  of  time  and 
leave  us  no  golden  moment  for  renown  and  high  applause!  The  Senator's 
apostrophes  to  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  and  the  Genius  of  Brotherhood  yet 
ring  in  our  ears;   the  orator  quaffing  water  and  mopping  his  brow  betimes: 

"Should  the  time  ever  come  when  this  beacon  light  shall  no  more  illumine 
the  halls  of  legislation  and  shall  no  more  be  remembered  and  held  dear  in 
the  hearts  of  those  in  the  high  places  of  the  nation,  then  may  we  be  prepared 
to  forever  furl  our  emblem  of  freedom  and  bid  the  free  winds  of  heaven  to  no 
longer  play  with  its  silken  folds!  Let  the  stars  in  the  deep  blue  of  its  expansive 
firmament  expire  in  despair  and  go  out  in  eternal  oblivion!" 

Then  again:  "As  it  is  the  great  and  universal  law  of  attraction  which  holds 
the  planets  in  their  undeviating  course  through  the  countless  ages  and  causes 
the  stupendous  clock-work  of  the  heavens,  whose  pendulum  strokes  are  meas- 
ured by  the  equinoxes  and  the  solstices,  to  move  as  perfect  as  perpetual, so  it  is 
only  by  the  observance  of  that  golden  principle  by  the  people  and  the  sections  of 
our  nation,  and  the  true  affinity  which  it  lends>  to  instill  into  the  body  politic 
that   will   secure   its   perpetuation    and    fulfull    its   highest    destiny." 

The  vast  multitude  stared  in  open-mouth  amazement  until  these  eloquent 
flights  were  concluded.  They  seemed  greatly  relieved  when  the  Honorable  Senator 
stood  on   terra  firma   once  more. 

"Thus  closed  the  morning  program,"  says  the  chronicle  before  us;  "and  the 
happy  time  of  dinner,  family  reunions  and  hospitality  arrived.  The  fair  grounds 
were  converted  as  by  magic  into  a  great  picnic  ground,  and  everywhere  white 
table  cloths  dotted  the  green  sward  and  appetizing  viands  tempted  the  hungry 
Hcosiers.  Nearly  every  impromptu  table  had  a  stranger  guest  and  let  no  one 
go   hungry!" 

We  did  full  justice  to  the  good  things  our  aunt  had  prepared.  We  then 
watched  anxiously  to  see  how  many  orators  would  crowd  us  out  during  the 
afternoon.  We  disregarded  even  the  amusements  about  us,  so  intent  were  we 
upon  the  purpose  of  our  thought.  We  wondered  if  we  would  equal  the  Hon- 
orable State  Senator  in  his  patriotic  outbursts,  and  we  felt  some  assurance  as  we 
saw  the  Honorable  swallowing  great  hunks  of  fried  chicken  and  pie,  wiping 
hie  two  mustaches  the  while  with  great  vigor!  We  were  ready  and  eager  if 
"Uncle  Sam"  would  only  give  us  a  chance. 


106 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


"This-er-way,  ladies  and  gen'men!  Here's  whur  ye  get  yer  money  back, 
fer  sho!  Performance  begins  now  right-er-way,  hit  do!  Nothing  will  be 
said  or  done  to  mar  the  feelin's  of  the  most  refinest!" 

Thus  did  the  eloquent  mulatto  show  man  harangue  the  rustic  at  the  tent 
door,  and  we  began  to  practice  in  memory  the  eloquent  periods  of  our  "extempore 
remarks!"  Therefore  when  the  Congressman  was  introduced  we  had  the  honor  of 
crossing  our   awkward  legs   upon   the  platform   beside  him. 


OLD  NORTH  CAROLINA  PRARIE  SCHOONER 

Cut    furnished    by    A.    F.    and    Fanny    Bower    Holloway,    Presbyterian    Qhurcn, 

New    Washington,    Ind. 

In  the  summer  of  1818  Andrew  Bower,  Sr.,  with  his  wife  and  12  children, 
left  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina,  for  Indiana.  This  Prarie  Schooner  was 
one  of  the  wagons  of  the  caravan  of  pioneers.  The  wlheeJls  were  solid 
blocks  of  wood,  with  an  iron  band  to  make  ithe  wheels  stronger.  The 
wagons  were  drawn  by  oxen.  The  milk  cows  were  herded  by  the  children, 
who  were  old  enougih  to  help.  The  wagon  was  covered  with  a  home-made 
canvas  of  flax  tow-linen.  The  family  crossed  the  Ohio  at  the  Falls.  They 
were  offered  a  square  of  land  in  ithe  new  city  of  Louisville  for  a  team  of 
horses;  but  that  was  not  enough  money.  So  they  came  to  Clark  County  and 
settled  on  the  land  that  is  stil'l  owned  by  the  descendants  of  Andrew  Bower. 
They  originally  came  from  Pennsylvania  and  were  Holland  Dutch.  Andrew 
Bower,  Senior,  was  the  grandfather  of  Fanny  Bower  Holloway.  He  died  in 
1892.  aged  93  years.  The  old  way  of  spelling  the  name  was  Bauer.  The 
Prarie  Schooner   has   belonged   to   four  generations   of   Pres/byterians. 


CONGRESSMAN  AND  COLLEGIAN 
We  had  modestly  but  firmly  stationed  ourselves  in  full  view  of  "Uncle 
Sam"  to  make  it  impossible  to  be  overlooked,  and  the  old  minister  with  great 
courtesy  and  kindness  bade  us  to  the  seat  of  notables  beside  a  well  known  public 
man!  We  felt  as  distinguished  as  anybody  now!  The  Honorable  State  Senator 
dwindled  away  in  significance  as  the  Congressman  launched  into  a  simple, 
direct  and  popular  talk  to  his  constituents,  with  a  few  sentiments  pertinent  to 
the  special  occasion.  We  were  not  aware  that  this  eloquent  lawyer  and  M.  C, 
had  been  counsel  for  the  most  famous  and  desperate  band  of  robbers  and  high- 
waymen in  the  history  of  Indiana  during  the  Civil  War  period.  His  name  was  a 
household  word  all  over  the  State. 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN*  107 

"Now,  friends,  we  have  with  us  today  a  young  man  from  over  in  our 
neighbor  State,  Old  Kentucky.  He  will  favor  us  with  a  few  remarks  befitting 
the  celebration." 

It  seemed  the  time  of  our  life.  We  launched  into  the  subject  of  our 
heart  with  all  the  warm  enthusiasm  of  a  young  collegian  fresh  from  the  classic 
halls  of  "Old  Centre."  The  remembered  sentences  of  our  manuscript  served 
merely  as  suggestions  of  other  things,  and  we,  too,  soared  with  the  eagle  and 
paid  our  tribute  to  the  fathers  of  the  republic!  But,  best  of  all,  we  touched 
upon  local  character  and  incident  with  an  enthusiasm  and  fire  that  astonished 
"Uncle  Sam,"  and  held  the  big  audience  spellbound!  The  venerable  pioneers, 
men  and  women  heard  their  struggles  depicted  with  sympathy;  and  when  w" 
stepped  from  the  platform  the  people  pressed  forward  to  take  us  by  the  hand! 
We  did  not  care  now  what   "Uncle  Sam"    thought! 

The  Congressman's  daughter  was  cold  and  reserved  and  smiled  but  feebly 
to  our  gallant  courtesy  upon  being  introduced;  but  another  young  lady  and  her 
mother  from  Indianapolis,  descendants  of  the  Presbyterian  minister  who  had 
married  our  revered  grandparents  in  the  little  town  long  ago  congratulated  us 
with  ardor. 

"You  will  be  aspiring  to  the  National  Senate  some  day!" 
We   moved   about   as   in    a    day    dream !      We   visited    the    cemetery    and    saw 
the    graves    of    our    ancestors    and    the    neglected    spot    where    Governor    Jennings 
slept,    little   imagining    that    we,    too,    would    be    summoned    to    do    battle    for    the 
new  Social  Freedom  in  days  to  come. 

"Did  you  lay  the  Congressman  in  the  shade?"  asked  our  uncle  eagerly 
when  he  reached  the  city  that  evening.  We  told  him  what  the  young  lady 
and  her  mother  had  said  and  our  political  destiny  seemed  fixed  as  the  polar  star. 
The  cup  of  pride  and  satisfaction  was  full  when  we  noticed  our  name 
in  the  personal  items  and  reports  of  the  city  paper  as  "Honorable"  a  few  days 
later.  We  pasted  the  same  in  our  scrap  book  as  a  means  of  reassurance  when 
the  face  of  fame  and  fortune  was  veiled  and  averted.  The  fact  was  we  had  just 
lately  been  sorely  defeated  in  the  June  oratorical  contest  at  college  and  were 
endeavoring  to  recover  our  sadly  shattered  self-esteem  in  the  public  eye.  Our 
competitors  were  very  mediocre  men  in  oratorical  talent  .whereas  we  really 
aspired  to  rank  among  the  speakers  and  debaters  in  the  classic  old  insti- 
tution. 

We  did  not  foresee  that  a  further  disillusion  of  failure  and  defeat  was  in 
store,  for  us.  The  panic  period  of  the  nineties  was  nigh  at  hand  and  the  hard 
times,  of  which  Uncle  Dan  told  us,  would  shortly  return  again.  In  such  a 
social  experience  every  thinking  American  was  destined  to  shed  his  political 
platitudes  and  get  down  to  bed-rock  economic  fact.  Our  soul  was  refreshed 
by  that  day's  contact  with  the  common  people,  even  as  our  fond  tribute  to  the 
obscure,  gray-haired  old  heroes  and  heroines  of  the  life  struggle  went  home  to 
their  hearts.  There  were  but  few,  if  any,  such  festive  celebrations  at  that  time 
in  Old  Kentucky;  and  in  this  typical  community  meeting  of  the  Middle  West 
we  learned  to  see  the  rallying  point  of  freedom  and  democracy  in  days  to  come. 
It  was  at  this  holy  altar  of  the  people  that  we  first  lighted  and  lifted  the  Torch 
of  Truth  which  we.  too,  were  called  to  carry  forward  when  the  venerable  fathers 
and  patriots  had  passed  from  the  scene  of  their  labors! 


CHAPTER  XXII 


**j§xtt  M-am&mx^  anh  JUkttttmu  Wxtthmm, 


f  ^\      OCKED  up   in   the  vaults   of  a   bank   in  Louisville,   Kentucky,    are   the 
^^  treasured     records     of     the     old     Louisville     Presbytery,     which     em- 

^^Jl,  l  braced  the  greater  part  of  Southern  Indiana  up  to  the  month  of 
October,  1823,  when  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  divided  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery and  constituted  the  Presbytery  of  Salem,  which  is  now  known  as  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Albany.  In  this  territory  the  great  struggle  to  make  the  Northwest 
country  free  from  slavery  took  place.  It  was  in  the  towns  of  Charlestown  and 
Corydon,  Indiana,  that  the  battle  centered.  At  Charlestown  lived  the  first  Gov- 
ernor of  Indiana,  who  was  a  Presbyterian  and  a  Freemason.  This  man  was 
Jonathan  Jennings.  He  was  the  close  friend  of  many  leading  pioneer  people  in 
Oldham  county.  The  Presbyterian  church  at  Charlestown  and  the  one  at 
Goshen  were  pastored  by  Rev.  John  Todd,  who  undoubtedly  backed  up  Jonathan 
Jennings  in  his  great  fight  to  make  Indiana  a  free  State. 

Blazing  Star  Lodge  No.  3  6,  at  Charlestown,  Ind.,  was  organized  and 
chartered  in  August,  1816,  while  the  State  of  Indiana  was  still  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Kentucky.  The  dispensation  for  Fortitude  Lodge 
No.  47,  at  Westport  in  this  county,  was  not  issued  until  1817,  one  year 
later.  Thus  Southern  Indiana  was  under  Presbyterian  and  Masonic  control  for 
many  years  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  Rob  Morris  and  H.  B.  Grant 
in  their  histories  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Kentucky  give  us  invaluable  clues  to  the 
story  of  the  great  Anti-Slavery  Struggle  which  extended  from  the  year  1792 
in  Kentucky  to  the  year  1816  in  Indiana.  Washington  and  Jefferson  College 
in  Pennsylvania,  Old  Center  College  in  Kentucky  and  Hanover  College  in 
Indiana,  constituted  a  backbone  to  the  Emancipation  Movement  and  to  National 
Unity  during  the  Civil  War.  In  succeeding  chapters  we  have  worked  out  the 
setting  of  this  story.  We  now  propose  to  present  another  great  Lincoln  fore- 
runner with  historic  details  that  will  be  treasured  as  long  as  Masonic  memories 
endure.  These  chapters  are  absolutely  new  material  that  no  Kentucky  or  Indiana 
historian   has   ever    discovered    or   used. 

During  the  Indiana  Centennial  in  1916  we  gave  to  the  press  several 
articles  on  Governor  Jennings  which  were  added  to  afterward  by  more  careful 
research.  When  we  stop  to  think  that  Clark  and  Oldham  counties  were  bound 
together  like  bosom  friends  in  those  days  of  one  hundred  years  ago  by  the  river 
itself  and  the  constant  stream  of  people  passing  up  to  Indiana  Territory  from 
the  South,  we  can  easily  understand  that  this  great  struggle  against  slavery  across 
the  river  excited  immense  interest  and  discussion  in  Oldham  county  as  well 
as  in  Clark.  In  our  boyhood  at  the  Charlestown  Old  Settlers'  meetings  we  first 
became  interested  in  the  story  of  Governor  Jennings.  Ever  since  then  we 
have    added    to    our    information    about    this    great    man    and    Freemason.       So 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  109 

we  are  ready  to  begin  his  life  story  in  these  chapters  as  a  part  of  the  long- 
forgotten  drama  that  gave  birth  to  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
The  map  of  Masonic  territory  over  which  Rob  Morris  constantly  traveled  and 
lectured  embraced  this  same  region  of  Southern  Indiana;  and  his  tradition 
lives  in  the  hearts  of  the  Hoosier  Brethren     with  that  of  Jonathan  Jennings. 

INDIANA 
Dear   Hoosier   State,    we   dedicate 

Thine    altars,    century-old, 
To   the   new   time   with   deeds   sublime, 

In  song  and  story  told. 
Twas  Jefferson  who  stamped  upon 

Thy  fearless  soul  the  thought 
That  man  is   man   o'er  race  or  clan, 

By   birthright   dearly   bought. 

And   evermore    where   heroes    bore 

The  battle  bravely  on, 
Thy  sons  were  there  and  daughters  fair, 

To  light   the  fires  of  Dawn. 
George  Rogers  Clark   made  history's   mark. 

Who  won  the  great  Northwest, 
Brave  pioneer  with  title  clear 

To   glory's   well   earned   rest. 

Then    Jennings   rose   to    face   the   foes 

Of    Human    liberty. 
At  Corydon   the  fight   was   won, 

That    made    the    Northwest    free. 
And    afterward,    when    to    the    sword, 

The   Southern    States   appealed, 
'Twas  Morton's  stand  that   saved   the   land 

Of  Lincoln   in   the   field. 

But   Riley's   song   has   taught   us   long 

That   of  one  human   clay 
We  all   are  made,   and   unafraid 

We   face   Love's   grander   day! 
Let   knowledge   rule   in   church   and   school, 

And  Love   uphold  thy  homes; 
And    we   shall    see   thy    destiny 

Grander    than    Greece    or    Rome's. 

Chief  Magistrate  of  this  dear  State, 

The   century    closes    well, 
With   one   who   heeds    the   people's    needs, 

Where'er  they   work  or  dwell. 
Thou  art  so  just  that  all  men  trust 

The  hand   that   holds   the  helm; 
Thy  heart  beats  warm   to  brave  the  storm, 

So    what    can    overwhelm? 


10  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


THE   JENNINGS   FAMILY 


No  one  has  ever  taken  pains  to  search  out  the  ancestry  of  Governor  Jonathan 
Jennings,  but  he  came  of  glorious  New  England  lineage.  His  father  was 
Rev.  Jacob  Jennings,  whose  people  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Plymouth. 
The  name  of  Jennings  does  not  appear  on  the  roll  of  the  Mayflower,  but  they 
came  over  not  long  after.  The  father  of  Governor  Jennings  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Somerset,  New  Jersey,  in  1744.  He  was  a  student  of  medicine  and 
practiced  his  profession  in  a  little  village  near  Elizabethtown,  in  Jersey  State. 
He  was  a  gifted  and  highly  cultivated  man  and  met  with  such  success  that  he 
established  himself  for  a  number  of  years  at  Readington,  Hunterdon  county, 
in  the  same  State.  Here  his  son  Jonathan  was  born  in  the  year  1784.  The 
mother  was  a  most  intellectual  and  congenial  companion  of  her  husband,  being 
herself  a  medical  student,  graduate  and  practitioner.  It  was  an  unusual  thing 
in  that  age  for  a  woman  to  be  liberally  educated  and  enter  a  profession;  but 
students  of  eugenics  will  find  abundant  justification  for  their  theories  in  the 
Jennings  family.  Without  exception  the  sons  became  remarkable  men.  We  have 
no  record  whether  the  daughters  were   or  not. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  for  some  time  previous  to  the  birth  of  Jonathan 
Jennings,  his  father  was  passing  through  a  great  mental  and  spiritual  awakening, 
consequent  upon  a  long  course  of  study  and  experience.  The  same  year  that 
Jonathan  was  born  his  father  decided  to  enter  the  gospel  ministry.  Having 
made  due  and  dilligent  preparation,  he  was  examined  and  licensed  by  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church,  which  is  very  close  akin  to  the  Presbyterian  faith. 
After  his  admission  to  the  ministry  he  served  for  several  years  in  Virginia; 
so  that  his  son  Jonathan  in  early  childhood  must  have  been  in  close  contact 
with  the  institution  of  slavery.  There  is  no  record  of  these  first  impressions, 
but  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Virginia  was  strongly  anti-slavery  and  the  father 
and  mother  of  Jonathan  had  decided  convictions  on  the  subject.  Hence  his  first 
great  life  work  was  instilled  into  him   from   boyhood   up. 

About  the  year  1791  Dr.  Jennings  removed  from  Virginia  to  Western 
Pennsylvania  and  the  following  April  was  received  as  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Redstone,  which  has  produced  some  of  the  most  noted  men  and 
minister  in  the  Presbyterian  annals.  He  accepted  a  call  to  the  church  at 
Dunlap's  Creek,  in  Fayette  county,  Pa.,  and  remained  with  that  congregation 
in  very  happy  relationship  until  June,  1811,  when  the  approaching  infirmities 
of  age  occasioned  his  voluntary  retirement  from  the  active  ministry.  He  died 
February    17th.    1813. 

THE    JENNINGS    BROTHERS 

Dunlap's  Creek  was  thus  the  boyhood  home  of  Jonathan  Jennings.  He 
obtained  an  excellent  training  in  the  local  common  school  and  under  his  father 
and  mother  at  home.  He  was  then  sent  to  what  was  known  as  a  grammar 
school  at  Cannonsburg,  eighteen  miles  southwest  of  Pittsburg.  This  was  one  of 
the  foundation  school  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  College.  The  original 
Jefferson  College  was  established  there  in  1802.  and  young  Jennings  was  thor- 
oughly trained  in  Latin,  Greek  and  higher  mathematics.  He  was  thus  one  of 
the  earliest  and  most  noted  graduates  of  this   famous  Presbyterian   institution. 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  1  1  1 

The  Jennings  brothers  were  remarkable  young  men.  The  decision  of  Jon- 
athan to  study  law  was  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  his  older  brother,  Obadiah, 
who  was  six  years  his  senior.  Obadiah  was  such  a  promising  lad  that  his  par- 
ents gave  him  every  advantage  of  education  and  he  was  a  student  at  Jefferson 
Academy  before  Jonathan.  He  finished  with  honor  and  then  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Attorney  John  Simonson  of  Washington,  Pa.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1800.  He  began  to  practice  at  Steubenville,  Ohio,  shortly  after,  and  his 
maiden  effort  was  a  brilliant  success.  He  practiced  in  Steubenville  nearly  ten 
years  when  he  returned  to  Washington,  Pa.,  but  continued  his  work  in  the 
courts  of  Ohio  just  the  same.  It  was  said  of  him  that,  "He  had  a  rare  combina- 
tion of  intellectual  qualities  favorable  to  success  as  a  lawyer,  and  in  his  address  to 
the  jury  particularly,  he  evinced  a  skill  and  power  almost  unrivalled.  He  was 
also  exceedingly  popular  with  his  brethren  of  the  profession,  and  enjoyed 
in  an  unusual  degree  the  confidence  of  the  whole  community." 

It  will  thus  be  readily  seen  how  easy  it  was  for  young  Jonathan  to  decide 
on  the  study  of  law.  A  third  brother,  Samuel,  bore  witness  to  the  generous 
character  of  his  brother  Obadiah  as  a  boy.  They  were  a  loyal  and  affectionate 
group.  Obadiah  always  divided  his  store  of  nuts  and  fruits  with  the  rest  and 
never  refused  to  render  a  favor  when  it  was  in  his  power.  Naturally  these  boys 
were  devoted  to  their  parents  and  never  took  any  step  in  life  contrary  to  the 
judgment  and  counsel  of  the  family  circle.  In  this  they  were  typical  Presbyterians. 
They  were  taught  the  modesty  and  simplicity  of  true  culture  and  Obadiah  especial- 
ly was  gifted  in  humorous  anecdote.  This  made  him  very  companionable  and 
popular  in  his  profession,  and  Jonathan  developed  similar  characteristics  which 
gave  him  a  wonderful  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the   rough  pioneers. 

We  are  now  in  full  possession  of  the  facts  concerning  the  early  educational 
and  social  influence  which  formed  the  future  of  these  Jennings  brothers  in  the 
little  colloge  at  Cannosburg.  About  three  miles  from  the  town  lived  a  remark- 
able Presbyterian  pastor  by  the  name  of  John  McMillan.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  Princton  College  under  President  Witherspoon  just  before  the  Revolutionary 
War  and  settled  in  Western  Pennsylvania  when  there  were  no  school  privileges 
anywhere  around  for  the  talented  and  ambitious  boys.  McMillan  was  an 
excellent  classical  scholar  and  opened  a  school  in  a  little  log  cabin  in  his  own 
dooryard.  He  was  always  on  the  lookout  for  promising  youth  with  a  view  to 
winning  them  to  the  Gospel  ministry.  He  would  take  them  under  his  roof  and 
teach  them  without  charge  until  they  were  ready  for  the  academy.  The  boys 
usually  worked  on  the  McMillan  farm  to  assist  in  their  own  support.  Finally 
the  applicants  became  so  numerous  that  Pastor  McMillan  succeeded  in  establishing 
the  academy   at  Cannonsburg  where  the  Jennings  brothers   were   educated. 

It  was  from  this  very  region  in  Western  Pennsylvania  that  many  of  the 
finest  families  came  into  Clark  and  Oldham  counties.  They  settled  around  Beth- 
lehem and  Westport  on  the  Ohio  River  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Charlestown  and 
Goshen.  The  numerous  clan  of  Bottorffs  and  Shraders  are  of  Pennsylvania  des- 
cent. The  Caldwells  and  Rirks  and  Triggs  and  Snowdens  had  branches  running 
back  to  the  Pennsylvania  hills  and  valleys:  and  the  conditions  of  distress  and 
impoverishment  following  after  Revolutionary  days  drove  many  of  these  sturdy 
Scotch-Irish  and  German  people  down  the  Ohio  to  better  their  lot  in  life. 


112  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

We  arc  moved  to  add  here  that  the  human  contribution  of  Virginia  and 
the  Carolinas  was  no  mean  addition  to  these  dependable,  fearless  pioneer  folk. 
Then,  too,  in  the  fraternal  helpfulness  of  Pastor  McMillan  we  see  the  Christian 
and  Masonic  spirit  of  the  frontier  beautifully  exemplified.  It  is  the  despair  of 
all  our  churches  today  where  they  are  going  to  find  candidates  for  the  gospel 
ministry  equal  to  the  pupils  of  the  Pennsylvania  forest.  Out  of  that  matchless 
atmosphere  of  devotion  to  God  and  humankind  Jonathan  Jennings  sprang. 

A   SCHOOL   OF  THE   FRONTIER 

Pastor  McMillan  first  lived  in  a  cabin  without  roof,  chimney  or  floor. 
He  had  no  furniture  and  there  was  no  bread  in  the  settlement.  The  people  lived 
mainly  on  pumpkins  and  potatoes  until  the  crops  of  grain  were  more  abundant. 
The  Revolution  had  just  closed  and  the  country  was  bankrupt.  All  the  people 
had  was  land  and  liberty,  and  yet  that  was  enough  to  begin  on.  There  was  no 
money  but  the  worthless  Continental  paper,  so  the  pioneers  fell  back  on  natural 
resources   and  ingenuity. 

Pastor  McMillan  saved  his  grain  and  refused  to  sell  to  those  who  had  money 
to  buy  it.  Instead  he  sent  them  elsewhere  and  loaned  his  grain  to  the  poor  small 
farmers  around  on  the  promise  of  returning  a  like  amount  at  the  end  of  the 
harvest.  None  cheated  or  disappointed  him,  and  in  the  same  way  he  assisted 
young  men  in  their  struggles  to  education  and  useful  service  in  life.  He  was  a 
rough  and  plain  spoken  man.  six  feet  tall,  stout  and  ungainly  in  form,  with 
coarse  features,  large  nose  and  homely  as  one  can  imagine.  His  voice  was  coarse 
and  his  manner  forbidding,  almost  offensive,  on  first  acquaintance.  But  he  was 
a  master  mind  and  knew  the  value  of  young  manhood  like  the  greatest  teachers 
of  the  world.  Let  him  but  hear  or  see  anyone  in  distress  of  mind  or  body,  or 
let  him  come  across  a  youth  with  a  hunger  for  books  and  knowledge,  and  you 
never  witnessed  a  more  generous  soul,  to  help  to  the  limit  of  his  power. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

S^l  "X  ASTOR  MCMILLAN  was  one  of  the  discoverers  of  John  Watson,  the 
I  1  remarkable  young  teacher  who  trained  the  Jennings  boys  in  their 
r*  classical    studies   at   Cannonsburg.    Thereby    hangs   a    tale    of   intensest 

interest,  for  this  young  man  Watson  exercised  the  profoundest  in- 
fluence on  the  mind  and  character  of  his  pupils.  His  own  life  was  like  a  leaf 
out:  of  a  storybook.  His  parents  were  the  "poor  but  respectable"  people  so  often 
mentioned  in  Presbyterian  history.  They  taught  him  to  read  but  could  not 
afford  to  send  him  to  school.  When  he  was  about  seven  years  old  his  father 
one  day  brought  him  a  copy  of  Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield.  The  child  be- 
came so  absorbed  that  he  wanted  to  sit  up  all  night  to  finish  it.  After  this  his 
hunger  for  good  reading  was  such  that  his  parents  could  scarcely  supply  his 
demands.  When  he  was  nine  years  old  his  father  was  killed  by  falling  from  a 
horse.  His  mother  had  either  died  or  was  left  dependent,  for  the  boy  was  taken 
into  the  home  of  his  father's  friend  and  cared  for  on  the  condition  of  making 
himself  useful.  The  lady  of  the  new  home  was  a  great  lover  of  good  fiction  but 
did  not  believe  it  suitable  for  a  boy  to  enjoy.  She  found  young  Watson  deep 
in  the  pages  one  day  and  forthwith  took  the  books  from  him  and  forbade  his 
reading  them  any  more.  The  lad  wanted  to  be  obedient  but  he  could  not  see  the 
reason  or  justice  of  such  selfish  prohibition;  so  he  slipped  the  books  away  one 
by  one  and  read  them  in  secret.  When  the  lady  discovered  this  stratagem  she  lock- 
ed the  books  securely  in  the  case.  Watson  spent  whole  nights  wrestling  with  his 
conscience  and  his  hunger  for  the  forbidden  books.  At  last  he  discovered  a  dupli- 
cate key  and  unlocked  the  bookcase  whenever  the  lady  of  the  house  was  absent. 
In  this  way,  without  discovery,  he  devoured  the  contents  of  the  little  library. 
He  always  felt  morally  humiliated  because  he  was  forced  to  obtain  the  books 
in  this  manner  and  used  to  say  that  it  was  the  only  dishonest  act  of  his  whole 
life.  But  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  petty  tyranny  of  a  woman  who  would  be 
guilty  of  such  selfish  injustice  toward  a  boy  who  was  hungry  for  good  reading? 
The  husband  of  the  house  kept  a  tavern  and  store  and  taught  young  Watson 
to  write  and  cipher  well  so  he  could  assist  in  the  business.  He  soon  began  to 
clerk  and  serve  at  the  bar;  but  this  did  not  in  the  least  degrade  him.  Instead, 
it  gave  him  a  chance  to  study  human  nature  at  close  range,  and  his  desire  for 
reading  and  study  was  redoubled.  He  read  Addison's  Spectator  and  saw  occasional 
Latin  sentences  that  he  could  not  understand.  Somehow  he  got  hold  of  a  copy 
of  Horace  and  an  old  Latin  dictionary  and  dug  his  way  into  the  world  of  classic 
letters. 

JUDGE    ADDISON,    THE    POOR    BOY'S    FRIEND 

Now  it  happened  that  Alexander  Addison,   the  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon   Pleas    in    the    Western    District    of    Pennsylvania,    stopped    at    the    tavern    on 


114  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

has  circuit.   One  night   he  arrived   late   and   found   young   Watson    waiting   on   the 
bar  and  reading  Horace  by  the  fire-light. 

"What  is  that  you   are  reading,   my  boy?"   He  asked  kindly. 

"A   copy   of  Horace,    sir,"    answered    the    youth. 

"Well  I  am  delighted  to  find  you  so  profitably  employed,  my  lad;  but  I 
am  sorry  that  you  are  not  better  equipped   for  study." 

"I   am  trying   to   make  out   the  best   I   can,    sir." 

"Yes,  but  I  will  bring  you  the  books  you  need  when  I  come  around  again," 
said  the  judge. 

"I  will  be  thankful,  sir,"  said  Watson,  "for  that  is  the  first  word  of  en- 
couragement  I   have   had   about   my    studies   since    father   died." 

"Well  you  may  depend  on  my  assistance,"  answered  the  judge  as  he  bade 
the  boy  good-night. 

Never  did  a  lad  wait  more  eagerly  for  the  weeks  to  roll  round;  and  on 
the  night  the  judge  was  again  expected  Watson  pushed  the  stable  man  aside  and 
went  out  to  take  the  judge's  horse  himself.  His  eyes  were  riveted  on  the  saddle- 
bags. 

"I  have  your  books,  my  boy,"  the  judge  said  heartily,  and  Watson's  heart 
leaped  for  joy.  He  was  so  dumb  with  gladness  that  he  answered  not  a  word. 
A  Latin  Grammar.  Aesop's  Fables,  a  Testament  in  the  original  tongue,  and  a 
good  Latin  dictionary.  These  the  judge  showed  him  how  to  use  and  promised  to 
supervise  his  study  and  bring  him  other  books  from  time  to  time.  In  this  way 
he  stimulated  the  lad  to  rapid  progress  and  directed  his  reading  into  liberal 
literature.  Watson  fell  in  with  another  youth  about  his  own  age  who  was  attend- 
ing the  academy  in  the  little  town,  and  they  studied  together  and  received  assist- 
ance from  the  local  teacher.  The  tavern  keeper  would  not  think  of  giving  up 
his  apprentice,  so  Watson  clerked  and  kept  bar  and  studied  until  he  was  nine- 
teen years  old.  The  judge  continued  his  steadfast  friend,  and  Pastor  McMillan, 
becoming  acquainted  with  young  Watson's  talent  and  progress,  procured  him  a 
place  as  assistant  teacher  in  the  academy  at  Cannonsburg.  Pastor  McMillan  then 
insisted  on  Watson  completing  his  education  at  Princeton  College,  and  not  only 
found  him  employment  there  as  an  undergraduate  tutor  but  offered  to  defray 
any  additional  expenses.  Watson  made  a  splendid  record  at  Princeton  and  then 
returned  to  take  charge  of  the  academy  at  Cannonsburg.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
Presbyterian  ministry  that  year  and  served  a  church  outside  of  town  on  Sundays. 
He  was  the  idol  of  his  pupils  and  parishioners. 

THE  BOY  WHO  MAKES  THE   MAN 

Watson  was  the  teacher  who  so  deeply  inspired  and  developed  the  mind  and 
character  of  Jonathan  Jennings.  He  was  a  master  of  logic,  yet  simple  as  a  child 
in  thought  and  language.  He  trained  his  boys  to  be  sincere,  concise,  and  right 
to  the  point  in  public  speaking;  and  he  drilled  them  thoroughly  in  the  principles 
of  free  government.  Indeed,  he  stimulated  the  desire  of  Jonathan  Jennings  to 
be  a  lawyer  quite  as  much  as  the  success  of  Obadiah.  the  elder  brother.  And  who 
can  ever  measure  the  influence  Judge  Addison  also  exercised  on  the  Jennings 
boys — the  upright  jurist,  the  friend  of  struggling  youth,  the  man  of  infinite 
kindness  and  wonderful  culture. 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  115 

With  such  ideals  in  boyhood,  we  are  not  surprised  that  Jonathan  Jennings 
became  the  man  his  bioghapher  describes:  "Governor  Jennings  was  a  man  of 
polished  manners.  A  lady  who  knew  him  well  and  was  often  a  guest  at  his 
house,  told  the  author  that  she  never  met  a  more  fascinating  man.  He  was  always 
gentle  and  kind  to  those  about  him.  He  was  not  an  orator  but  he  could  tell 
what  he  knew  in  a  pleasing  way.  He  wrote  well,  as  well  perhaps  as  any  of  his 
successors  in  the  Governor's  office.  He  was  an  ambitious  man,  but  his  ambition 
was  in  the  right  direction — to  serve  the  people  the  best  he  could.  He  died  com- 
paratively young,  but  he  did  as  much  for  the  well  being  of  Indiana  as  any  man 
that  ever  lived." 

We  have  no  record  of  the  year  in  which  young  Jennings  finished  his  stu- 
dies at  Jefferson  College,  but  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  favorite  teacher, 
Watson,  the  first  president  of  the  institution  when  it  was  chartered  by  the  Legis- 
lature in  1802.  But  the  memory  of  his  college  days  was  shadowed  by  the  sad 
and  untimely  death  of  President  Watson.  It  seems  that  when  young  Watson  was 
studying  with  his  boyhood  companion  years  before,  they  only  allowed  themselves 
a  few  hours  sleep  each  night  and  took  an  ice  cold  plunge  at  daylight  each  morn- 
ing. This  may  have  invigorated  his  companion  but  it  permanently  impaired  young 
Watson's  health  and  caused  his  death  at  the  very  threshold  of  a  life  of  splendid 
promise.  Pastor  McMillan  on  the  contrary  lived  into  the  eighties  and  left  a 
graphic  picture  of  pioneer  times  to  be  remembered  by. 

JONATHAN  JENNINGS   GOES   TO   INDIANA 

It  seems  most  probable  that  Jonathan  Jennings  first  began  to  read  law  in 
the  office  of  Attorney  John  Simonson  at  Washington,  Pa.,  where  his  brother 
Obadiah  had  studied.  We  have  no  information  as  to  what  decided  him  to  come 
to  Indiana  Territory,  except  the  love  of  the  Western  country  and  the  hope  of 
success  among  the  pioneer  people.  Anyhow,  in  the  year  of  1806  he  went  to 
Pittsburg  and  embarked  on  a  flat-boat  for  Jeffersonville  where  he  intended  to 
locate.  The  trip  down  was  no  doubt  slow  and  perilous  enough  from  Indian 
attacks  even  at  that  time;  but  young  Jennings  reached  Jeffersonville  in  safety 
and  tarried  a  while  to  note  the  outlook  for  himself  in  his  chosen  profession. 
He  was  only  twenty-two  years  old  and  the  prospect  of  establishing  himself  seemed 
so  poor  that  he  decided  to  go  on  to  Vincennes.  He  resumed  his  preparations 
for  the  bar  and  was  examined  and  admitted  to  practice  in  April,    1807. 

Jennings  supported  himself  by  serving  as  a  copying  clerk  in  the  Land  Office 
?nd  also  in  the  Territorial  Legislature.  But  as  soon  as  he  was  ready  fcr  business 
he  returned  to  Clark  county.  There  were  several  reasons  for  this.  He  had  been 
a  strong  opponent  to  slavery  from  his  youth  up  and  the  proslavery  people  were 
in  the  majority  at  Vincennes.  There  was  small  chance  for  political  preferment 
a,'.  Vincennes  though  he  was  exceedingly  popular  because  of  his  efficiency  and 
admirable  social  qualities.  J.  P.  Dunn,  the  Indiana  historian,  says  Jennings  had 
an  eye  on  the  rising  little  village  of  Charlestown  where  the  anti-slavery  people 
were  strong  and  where  there  lived  a  young  and  beautiful  Miss  Anna  Hay,  with 
whom  young  Jennings  had  fallen  deeply  in  love  when  he  first  came  to  Clark 
county  and  was  looking  about  for  a  location.  Love  for  a  beautiiful  maiden  and 
love  for  human  freedom  were  very  commendable  sentiments  on  which  to  stake 
his  future. 


1 1  6  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

It  was  now  the  year  of  1809  and  Indiana  Territory  had  the  right  to  elect 
a  delegate  to  Congress.  The  proclamation  for  the  election  had  been  posted  and 
Jennings  was  ready  to  return  on  horseback  to  Charlestown.  Mr.  Dunn  says  the 
decision  to  be  a  candidate  was  already  made.  He  was  barely  of  legal  age  but  he 
was  in  earnest.  He  had  a  talk  about  it  with  Nathaniel  Ewing,  an  official  in  the 
Land  Office  and  a  personal  friend,  just  before  starting.  Ewing  told  Jennings 
to  be  on  the  look-out  for  a  good  anti-slavery  candidate  down  in  Clark,  when 
Jennings  asked  frankly,  "Why  wouldn't  I  do?"  This  impressed  Ewing  favorably 
and  Jennings  came  to  Charlestown  to  see  his  sweetheart  and  to  enter  the  race 
for  Congress.  He  called  on  the  Briggs  brothers,  anti-slavery  leaders,  and  they 
readily  saw  the  situation  and  took   favorable  action  promptly. 

"NO   SLAVERY   IN   INDIANA" 

Not  long  after  his  arrival  in  Charlestown  young  Jennings  was  married  to 
Miss  Hay,  at  the  Green  Tree  Tavern,  where  a  wedding  ball  was  given  after  the 
ceremony  and  where  doubtless  the  anti-slavery  friends  of  the  young  attorney 
put  their  heads  together.  Anyhow,  he  was  soon  announced  as  the  choice  of  the 
Free  Soil  Democrats  for  Congress.  "No  slavery  in  Indiana"  was  the  courageous 
challenge  of  Jonathan  Jennings  on  entering  the  race,  and  he  pitched  in  to  over- 
come the  powerful  prejudice  and  patronage  of  the  opposition  arrayed  against  him. 

William  Wesley  Woolen  gives  the  most  realistic  picture  of  the  pro-slavery 
opposition  that  Jennings  immediately  encountered:  "His  opponent  wa  Thomas 
Randolph,  the  Attorney-General  of  the  Territory,  and  a  man  of  much  learning 
and  ability.  The  contest  between  Jennings  and  Randolph  was  exceedingly  ex- 
citing and  bitter.  Randolph  was  Virginia  born  and  believed  in  the  divinity  of 
slavery,  while  Jennings,  a  native  of  a  Free  State,  considered  slavery  a  blight  and 
a  curse.  The  territory  was  sparsely  inhabited,  the  settlements  being  on  the  eastern 
and  southern  borders  with  one  at  Vincennes  on   the  Wabash. 

"The  question  at  issue  was  that  of  slavery.  The  Governor  of  the  Territory, 
William  Henry  Harrison,  and  the  Virginians  about  him  were  striving  to  have 
the  provisions  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Northwest 
Territories,  suspended  or  repealed;  and  Jennings  and  the  other  Free  State  men 
were  trying  to  prevent  this.  The  territorial  Delegate  would  have  much  to  do  in 
determining  the  matter.  Hence  the  two  parties  battled  fiercely  for  the  election  of 
their  respective  favorite." 

Jonathan  Jennings  was  the  very  incarnation  of  the  Jeffersonian  ideal  in 
such  a  struggle.  Thomas  Jefferson  often  referred  to  the  anti-slavery  clause  of 
the  Ordinance  of  17  87,  which  was  primarily  intended  to  prevent  the  importation 
as  well  as  the  traffic  in  slaves.  The  African  slave  trade  was  then  still  in  full 
force  and  Jefferson  feared  that  if  the  Northwest  Territories  were  left  open  to 
the  institution  there  would  be  a  shameless  influx  of  captive  Negroes  fresh  from 
the  Dark  Continent.  The  famous  anti-slavery  clause  roused  heated  discussion 
from  its  first  inception,  and  other  strong  men  besides  Thomas  Jefferson  had  a 
hand  in  drafting  it,  as  the  old  Congressional  Records  show;  and  as  Mr.  Dunn 
very  clearly  demonstrates.  But  Thomas  Jefferson  was  out-spoken  on  the  subject 
and  young  Jonathan  Jennings  was  the  type  of  man  that  Jefferson  looked  for 
to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  great  struggle.  What  he  had  to  face  was  dearly 
seen  from  the  account  of  Mr.   Woolen. 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  1  1  7 

"The  intelligent  reader  need  hardly  be  told  that  the  Territory  was  then 
virtually  a  slave  Territory.  Negroes  were  bought  and  sold  in  the  market  at  so 
much  a  head.  The  author  has  been  permitted  to  examine  the  papers  of  Mr. 
Randolph,  and  among  them  are  two  bills  of  sale  for  Negroes  executed  at  Vincen- 
ncs  in  1809.  There  is  also  among  Mr.  Randolph's  papers  a  letter  from  Gen. 
James  Dill,  Randolph's  father-in-law,  written  to  his  wife  in  Lawrenceburg,  say- 
ing that  he  had  not  bought  her  a  Negro  servant  because  they  were  rather  too 
high;   but  he  hoped  to  find  one  soon  at  a  price  that  he  could  stand. 

"Public  sentiment  at  Vincennes  was  then  as  pro-slavery  as  it  was  at  Rich- 
mond. Randolph  was  its  representative  and  exponent,  and  it  rallied  to  his  sup- 
port with  all  the  dogmatism  that  used  to  characterize  its  adherents.  Jennings 
was  then  a  young  man,  a  mere  youth,  but  he  met  the  assault  of  the  pro-slavery 
men  with  the  courage   of  a  hero." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


%   Mitm&zablt   %\%it$   t®%   €sm%ig>xtm% 


f^  I  ENNINGS  made  a  horse-back  trip  to  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  and  other 
VJ  points  to  meet  and  mingle  with  the  pioneers.   The   Quakers  and   the 

•     1        Scotch-Irish    Presbyterians    who    had    come    into    Southern     Indiana 

^""^  from  the  Carolinas  and  Pennsylvania  were  uncompromising  op- 
ponents of  slavery,  and  the  choice  of  these  people  outside  of  Clark  county  was 
a    trustworthy    former    official   by    the   name   of   Hunt. 

The  first  mass-meeting  was  held  at  an  unfinished  cabin,  where  the  men 
sat  about  on  the  hewn  timber,  so  that  it  was  afterwards  called  "The  Log  Con- 
vention." They  had  sent  a  young  man,  Holman,  down  into  Clark  to  find  out 
and  report  the  sentiment  of  the  voters;  and  while  awaiting  Holman's  return 
Jennings  himself  arrived  in  their  midst.  His  extremely  youthful  appearance 
prejudiced  the  pioneers  against  him  at  first,  and  he  felt  the  cold-shoulder  on 
every  hand,  especially  when  Holman  came  back  and  whisperingly  reported  Jen- 
nings of  Clark. 

Everyone  walked  away  from  Jennings  and  he  heard  that  his  enemies  had 
been  circulating  the  story,  that  while  in  the  Land  Office  he  had  played  into 
the  hands  of  the  speculators  against  the  actual  settlers.  Jennings  easily  refuted 
this  attack  upon  his  integrity  and  turned  it  against  his  opponent  with  such 
success   that   the   tide   of   popular   favor   set   steadily    in   his   direction. 

Jennings  was  the  ideal  popular  leader.  He  rode  up  one  day  to  the  home  of 
David  Reese  and  was  invited  to  get  down  and  have  his  horse  put  up.  Randolph, 
his  opponent,  had  been  there  the  day  before,  and  at  a  similar  invitation  had 
gone  into  the  house  and  practically  ignored  the  log  rollers.  Jennings,  instead, 
offered  his  service  at  the  work  and  was  such  a  good  hand  that  every  fellow 
was  captivated  by  him.  If  it  was  harvest  time  he  led  the  mowers  in  the  field 
and  took  hold  at  any  and  every  sort  of  task  where  he  found  men  busy.  He  was 
elected  over  the  combined  opposition,  and  popular  tradition  still  cherishes  the 
memory  of  its  democratic  champion.  One  may  think  that  the  pioneers  decided 
for  him  under  the  spell  of  his  personality  rather  than  because  he  was  anti-slavery. 
But  that  is  a  great  mistake.  Those  keen  back-woods  Hoosiers  saw  well  and  truly 
that  a  man  like  Randolph,  who  would  allow  his  horse  to  be  taken  and  go  into 
the  house  like  company,  to  await  dinner,  when  he  was  dependent  upon  the 
votes  of  the  very  men  he  ignored,  was  not  a  man  to  represent  them  in  Congress 
or    anywhere    else. 

Even  after  Jennings  received  his  certificate  of  election  from  Governor  Har- 
rison and  had  taken  his  seat  in  Congress  at  Washington,  Randolph  nude  every 
effort  to  have  him  unseated  on  the  charge  of  fraud  at  one  of  the  polling  places. 
The  House,  however,  refused  to  unseat  Jennings,  and  then  Randolph  began  a 
series    of    attacks    upon    the    character    of    Jennings    with    hand-bills    which    would 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  119 

have  provoked  a  personal  encounter  from  some  public  men.  Jennings  bore  it 
with  rare  equanimity  until  Waller  Taylor  a  Territorial  Judge  and  a  bitter 
partisan  of  Randolph,  insulted  him  with  the  purpose  of  bringing  on  a  duel. 
Jennings  calmly  told  Taylor  that  he  had  done  him  no  injury  and  did  not 
desire  to  raise  a  row  like  a  ruffian.  Taylor  denounced  Jennings  as  a  pitiful 
coward  and  made  much  ado  about  nothing:  but  two  years  later  on,  when  Taylor 
himself  was  a  candidate  for  Congress  from  Indiana,  Jennings  had  the  satisfaction 
of  inflicting  defeat  upon  him  as  he  had  upon  Randolph.  And  surely  that  was 
answer  enough  for  all  his  insults  and  challenges.  Jennings  was  opposed  to  duell- 
ing  on    principle. 

The  anti-slavery  forces  had  won  out  so  far  under  the  brilliant  leadership 
of  the  young  champion  of  freedom;  and  when  the  people  were  called  upon  to 
elect  delegates  to  the  first  Constitutional  Convention  in  May,  1816.  Clark 
county,  Indiana,  chose  Jonathan  Jennings  and  Thomas  Carr  under  the  same 
free  state  banner.  So  popular  was  Jennings  that  he  was  immediately  elected 
President  of  the  Convention,  which  assembled  at  Corydon,  June  10,  1816.  It 
was  a  body  of  honest  frontier  farmers  with  a  general  idea  of  democratic  govern- 
ment. There  was  a  Methodist  preacher  and  a  Baptist  elder  among  the  delegates. 
Jennings  and  Carr  were  staunch  Presbyterians. 

On  the  13th  of  June  a  petition  was  presented  from  Wayne  county  to  cut 
out  slavery.  On  the  20th  of  the  month  the  Convention  first  reached  a  vote  on  the 
subject,  and  it  was  duly  and  truly  declared:  "There  shall  be  neither  slavery  or 
involuntary  servitude  in  this  State,  otherwise  than  for  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  And  in  the  Bill  of  Rights 
were  further  provisions  enacted  to  forever  exclude  slavery  from  the  Common- 
wealth : 

"That  the  general,  great  and  essential  principles  of  liberty  and  free  gov- 
ernment may  be  recognized  and  unalterably  established,  we  declare  that  all  men 
are  born  equally  free  and  independent,  and  have  certain  natural  inherent  and 
inalienable  rights,  among  which  are,  enjoying  and  defending  life,  liberty  and 
acquiring,  possessing  and  protecting  property  and  pursuing  and  obtaining  hap- 
piness and  safety." 

In  the  election  for  Governor  which  followed  there  were  but  two  candidates, 
namely,  Jonathan  Jennings  on  the  same  platform  of  human  freedom,  and  Thomas 
Posey  who  was  then  Territorial  Governor.  Governor  Posey  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  a  brave  veteran  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  had  once  been  United 
States  Senator  from  Louisiana.  He  was  the  pro-slavery  candidate  and  that  organ- 
ization stood  by  him  firmly.  The  result  was  5,211  votes  for  Jennings  and 
3,934  for  Posey.  The  majority  for  Jennings  was  1,277,  and  he  assumed  office 
with  the  conviction  that  the  memorable  struggle  which  he  had  waged  was  now 
happily   and   triumphantly    terminated. 

JONATHAN  JENNINGS  AND  THOMAS  CARR 

Jonathan  Jennings  was  a  devoted  Free  Mason  in  all  his  struggles  for  human 
freedom  and  one  of  his  most  loyal  supporters  was  Thomas  Carr,  colleague  from 
Clark  county.  We  should  remember  that  religion  and  fraternity  were  powerful 
factors  among  the  pioneers  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  Fighting  every  day  for  their 
own  lives  and  the  lives  of  their  loved  ones  drew   them   very   close   together.    God 


120  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

was  their  Father  and  Defender,  and  they  believed  with  all  their  hearts  in  human 
brotherhood.  I  once  asked  Masonic  Brother  Samuel  Carr  of  Medora,  Jackson 
county,  Indiana,  how  early  in  life  he  learned  the  lesson  of  fraternity  and  he 
replied: 

"From  my  youth  up.  It  was  coincident  with  my  earliest  religious  teaching. 
It  was  borne  in  on  me  in  my  childhood  like  the  songs  of  Bobbie  Burns,  running 
far  back  of  memory  into  household  tradition  and  family  faith.  The  good  old 
Methodist  presiding  elder  who  visited  our  home  in  his  rounds  was  a  Free-Mason 
and  used  to  talk  religion  and  fraternity  to  my  father  by  the  hour.  Thus  they 
became  one  and  inseparable  in  my  mind  as  I  listened  to  his  stirring  experiences 
of   faith   and   fellowship." 

This  information  so  interested  me  that  I  pressed  Brother  Carr  for  further 
facts,  and  he  continued:  "You  see  my  ancestors,  the  Carrs,  were  originally 
Irish  Presbyterians.  John  Carr,  the  immediate  progenitor  of  my  father's  family 
in  America,  came  to  this  country  when  he  was  nineteen  years  old.  His  father 
and  mother  died  on  the  ship  coming  over,  for  the  ocean  voyage  in  those  days 
to  the  emigrant  exiles  was  little  better  than  being  aboard  a  slaver.  They  were 
herded  together  in  close,  foul,  unhealthy  quarters  like  cattle,  and  no  wonder 
the  old  people  perished  coming  across.  They  were  buried  at  sea.  The  father  and 
mother  of  Andrew  Jackson  crossed   the   Atlantic   under   the  same  conditions. 

"John  Carr  landed  with  a  brother  and  sister  at  Annapolis,  Maryland. 
Sometime  later  we  find  him  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  from  Westmoreland 
county  his  son  Thomas  Carr  emigrated  with  his  wife  to  Mercer  county,  Ken- 
tucky, and  thence  to  a  tract  of  land  along  Silver  Creek  on  Clark's  Grant  in 
Clark  county,  Indiana,  in  1806.  He  paid  sixteen  hundred  dollars  for  five  hundred 
acres. 

"Thomas  Carr  was  a  leader  of  men  in  his  time.  He  came  to  Jackson  county, 
Indiana,  and  was  in  the  Fort  at  Medora  during  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  first  constitutional  convention  in  1816  which  sat  under  the 
famous  old  elm  tree  at  Corydon.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  an  officer  in  the  Indian  Wars.  At  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  the  Indians  bit 
the  bullets  out  of  shape  before  firing  them  so  they  would  tear  the  white  men's 
flesh,  and  our  soldiers  were  fearfully  wounded  whenever  a  ball  struck  them.  It 
is  said  that  the  modern  Mauser  bullet  makes  a  small  hole  in  the  body  and  re- 
covery is  much  more  likely;   but  every   red  man's  bullet  was  deadly. 

"Thomas  Carr  was  like  most  of  the  Scotch  and  Irish  Presbyterians  who 
were  bitterly  opposed  to  slavery  and  fought  its  continuance  in  the  Territory 
of  Indiana  with  the  same  determination  he  showed  in  the  fights  against  the 
Indians.  He  was  a  strong  follower  of  Governor  Jennings  in  the  great  struggle 
to  rid  the  Territory  and  the  new  State  of  the  slavery  incubus,  and  they  were 
successful. 

"He  was  also  a  great  believer  in  education.  I  have  in  my  possession  a  beau- 
tifully written  manuscript  copy  of  the  arithmetic  used  in  those  days  when  Thomas 
Carr  himself  went  to  school.  He  died  in  1822.  He  was  a  devout  Presbyterian 
although  his  descendants  became  Baptists  and  Methodists,  many  of  them,  but 
their   ideal,    like   his,    was   human    freedom,    enlightenment    and    brotherhood." 


CHAPTER  XXV 


^babiidf  Mtumiu^m 


f\  Y\  E  HAVE  seen  that  when  the  father  of  the  Jennings  brothers  was  about 
/  I  1  forty  years  of  age,  he  experienced  a  great  spiritual  awakening  and 
^J^y  relinquished  the  practice  of  medicine  for  the  gospel  ministry.  Sing- 
ularly enough,  two  of  his  most  successful  sons  had  a  similar  ex- 
perience. Obadiah  left  off  a  brilliant  career  as  a  lawyer  to  become  a  minister 
and  Samuel  gave  up  the  practice  of  medicine  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  case  of 
Obadiah  was  the  most  striking.  He  felt  frequent  impulses  toward  a  more  con- 
secrated life,  but  the  success  of  his  profession  dulled  the  call  of  the  soul  until 
one  day  he  heard  a  sermon  by  the  Reverend  James  Snodgrass,  one  of  Pastor 
McMillan's  old  pupils.  It  roused  him  and  stirred  him  deeply.  Not  long  afterward 
his  legal  benefactor,  Attorney  Simonson,  died  suddenly  and  young  Jennings 
was  much  grieved.  This  was  in  the  fall  of  1809  and  early  in  the  year  1810. 
As  a  result  Obadiah  Jennings  united  with  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Stuben- 
ville,  Ohio.  Removing  a  little  later  to  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  he  settled 
down  where  he  and  his  brother  Jonathan  had  studied  law. 

Obadiah  was  elected  an  elder  in  the  church.  He  was  very  faithful  in  this 
capacity  and  was  a  frequent  delegate  to  the  Presbytery,  Synod,  and  to  the 
General  Assembly.  He  had  no  thought  at  this  time  of  relinquishing  the  practice 
of  law,  but  it  so  happened  that  an  humble,  obscure  Christian  spent  the  night 
at  his  house  and  pressed  upon  him  the  story  of  the  talents  and  left  him  in  a  very 
disturbed  state  of  mind  about  a  call  to  the  ministry.  He  had  brilliant  prospects 
before  him  in  law  and  discussed  the  subject  with  his  close  friends  for  some 
time.  In  this  state  of  unrest  he  was  taken  down  with  a  serious  and  almost  fatal 
spell  of  sickness,  so  that  a  leading  physician  of  Stubenville  came  to  attend  him. 
Obadiah's  decision  was  made  during  this  illness  that  if  his  life  was  spared,  he 
would  give  himself  wholly  to  the  Gospel  ministry.  He  followed  out  this  reso- 
lution as  soon  as  he  recovered,  and  in  1816  when  his  brother  Jonathan  was 
elected  Governor  of  Indiana,  Obadiah  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  Presbytery 
of  Ohio.  He  was  a  fluent  and  pleasing  speaker  and  it  was  decided  evidence  of 
his  talent  and  popularity  that  the  church  at  Stubenville,  Ohio  at  once  made  out 
a  call  to  him  to  become  its  pastor.  A  still  more  flattering  call  came  from  the 
church  at  Harrisburg,  the  Pennsylvania  State  Capital.  Obadiah  showed  his  genuine 
character  and  sincerity  by  accepting  the  call  to  Stubenville  where  he  was  so  de- 
voted to  the  people  already.  He  said  that  the  call  to  Harrisburg  was  indeed  an 
honor,  but  he  preferred  a  more  modest,  and  becoming  start  in  the  ministry 
rather  than  an  ambitious  and  self-seeking  career.  In  this  he  was  a  Jennings  to 
the  very  core.  He  spent  six  very  happy  years  at  Stubenville  and  then  accepted 
a  call  to  the  church  at  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  to  succeed  Reverend  Matthew 
Brown,    D.    D.,    who   had   been   elected   President    of    Jefferson    College. 


122  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


THOMAS   AND   ALEXANDER   CAMPBELL 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
Jefferson  College  in  the  year  1809  was  the  Reverend  Samuel  Ralston,  a  lead- 
ing Presbyterian  minister  of  that  section  from  overseas  with  the  same  ancestral 
name  as  Hon.  Samuel  Ralston  of  Indiana.  Anyhow,  the  family  of  this  kind 
and  hospitable  minister  entertained  some  remarkable  guests  one  night  in  October 
of  that  same  year.  They  were  none  other  than  the  father  and  family  of  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  the  distinguished  founder  of  the  Disciples  or  Christian  denom- 
ination. The  family  had  just  arrived  from  North  Ireland,  where  they  were  sturdy, 
highly  cultured  and  consecrated  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians.  They  had  already 
initiated  the  religious  movement  which  was  destined  to  make  the  names  of 
Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell  household  words  throughout  the  West  and 
South.  Thomas  was  a  man  of  singularly  noble  character  and  lamented  the  doc- 
trinal differences  that   necessitated  his  separation   from   the   Presbyterian   church. 

One  year  later,  in  October,  1810,  he  made  an  earnest  appeal  to  th>>  Synod 
of  Pittsburg  to  recognize  and  affiliate  with  the  newly  organized  "Christian  Associa- 
tion of  Washington."  Rev.  Samuel  Ralston  was  the  retiring  Moserator  and  preachea 
the  opening  sermon  at  this  meeting,  and  the  Rev.  Jacob  Jennings,  father  cl 
Jonathan  and  Obadiah,  was  in  attendance.  The  Synod  did  not  find  it  possible 
to  accept  the  proposal  of  Thomas  Campbell  on  account  of  the  constitutional 
and  doctrinal  differences,  but  Pastor  Campbell  continued  his  work  as  a  teacher 
and  minister  in  conjunction  with  his  son  Alexander,  and  became  one  of  the 
strongest  religious  anti-slavery  leaders  in  the  West  and  South.  He  eveti  exceeded 
Alexander  in   this  great  cause. 

Thomas  Campbell  was  a  pioneer  in  the  higher  education  of  young  women 
and  established  a  very  successful  school  at  Burlington,  Kentucky.  He  became 
much  interested  in  the  ignorant  and  neglected  condition  of  the  negro  slaves  in 
the  surrounding  country;  and  one  Sunday  afternoon  he  noticed  their  meeting 
in  a  woodland  nearby  where  they  had  no  means  of  enlightenment  or  spiritual 
uplift.  He  immediately  went  over  and  called  them  together  in  his  school  room 
where  he  read  and  taught  them  from  the  scripture.  He  then  tried  their  voices  in 
religious  songs  and  was  struck  with  their  natural  melody.  Next  day,  however, 
one  of  his  friends  called  on  him  to  say  that  such  a  meeting  for  the  slaves  was 
a  violation  of  the  laws  in  the  State  unless  white  witnesses  were  present  and  that 
it  would  be  unwise  and  unsafe  to  repeat  the  experiment.  Pastor  Campbell  was 
amazed  at  this  announcement  and  declared  that  he  would  immediately  remove 
from  a  State  that  forbade  teaching  Christianity  to  slaves.  The  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Kentucky,  however,  had  always  stood  firmly  for  gradual  emanci- 
pation and  for  the  teaching  of  the  slaves  educationally  and  spiritually,  and  Mr. 
Campbell  would  have  won  his  point  with  patience  and  tact.  His  son,  Alexander, 
was  strongly  against  slavery,  but  did  not  oppose  it  with  the  same  intense  con- 
viction as  his  father. 


OBADIAH  JENNINGS   AND  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 

While  the  Campbells  were  living  in  Washington,  Pa.,  Alexander  tried  his 
talent  as  an  anonymous  satirist  of  the  rather  crude  social  customs  and  habits 
of   the   young   people   in    the   little    frontier    town.    The    local    paper    published    his 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  123 

articles,  which  created  much  discussion;  and  President  Brown  of  the  College 
took  the  criticism  good  naturedly,  for  he  was  a  very  tolerant  and  kindly  teacher 
of  youth.  A  few  years  later  when  the  religious  people  of  the  same  community 
endeavored  to  enforce  rather  stringent  blue  laws  on  the  country  round,  Alex- 
ander Campbell  came  out  in  positive  and  successful  opposition  to  the  move- 
ment. It  happened  that  Obadiah  Jennings  was  still  an  attorney  and  he  was  the 
secretary  of  the  "Law  Enforcement  Leagues,"  or  "Moral  Societies"  as  they  were 
called.  The  biographer  of  Mr.  Campbell  relates  some  very  interesting  and  amusing 
stories  of  how  the  citizens  outwitted  the  Puritan  party.  Mr.  Campbell's  was 
indeed  a  brilliant  effort  and  won  him  wide  recognition.  Singularly  enough,  some 
years  later  when  Obadiah  was  pastor  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  he  met  Alexander  Campbell  again  in  public  debate,  this  time  on 
doctrinal  lines.  The  debate  was  published  and  attracted  much  attention.  Obadiah, 
however,  was  not  nearly  the  tolerant  and  masterly  disputant  his  brother  Jonathan 
was.  Nevertheless,  he  was  so  highly  regarded  in  parlimentary  and  church  law 
that  he  was  once  elected  Moderator  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  a 
rare  honor  in  that  denomination. 

When  Obadiah  Jennings  was  a  lawyer  he  spoke  in  an  off-hand  manner 
with  much  success;  but  when  he  became  a  minister  he  wrote  out  his  sermons 
and  lost  somewhat  of  the  fluency  and  natural  eloquence  which  everybody  liked. 
One  night  during  a  sacramental  meeting  he  hung  his  coat  near  the  open  fire 
when  he  retired.  The  coat  contained  the  sermon  of  the  morrow  and  chanced 
to  ignite  and  consume  the  precious  manuscript.  Next  morning  Obadiah  was 
much  embarrassed.  He  borrowed  a  coat  of  the  preacher  he  was  assisting  and 
went  into  the  pulpit  without  notes;  but  such  a  splendid  message  did  he  deliver 
off-hand  that  one  good  old  lady  said  she  prayed  the  Lord  to  burn  up  all  his 
written  sermons  in   the  same  manner.   Mr.   Jennings  enjoyed   the  joke  hugely, 

While  the  controversy  over  the  blue  laws  was  under  way,  a  shrewd  farmer 
by  the  name  of  Martin  sent  a  load  of  produce  into  Pittsburg  early  one  Saturday 
morning.  The  teamster  could  not  reach  home  on  Saturday  night  and  put  up 
near  Cannonsburg  till  Sunday  morning,  when  he  hitched  up  and  started  on  his 
return.  The  constable  tried  to  arrest  him  for  traveling  on  the  Sabbath,  but  had 
no  warrant.  While  the  constable  went  into  town  for  a  warrant  the  teamster 
swapped  off  with  a  friend,  who  of  course  was  not  the  driver  mentioned  in  the 
warrant;  and  no  arrest  was  possible.  The  constable  made  a  great  commotion 
about  it  until  a  crowd  collected.  Two  bystanders  proposed  to  bet  with  him. 
He  fell  into  the  trap  and  was  then  threatened  with  prosecution  for  betting.  He 
was  so  highly  chagrined  that  he  called  to  the  crowd  to  accept  a  treat  at  his  ex- 
pense and  let  the  whole  matter  drop.  It  was  this  rough  humor  of  the  frontier 
character  that  finally  prevailed  over  the  spirit  of  puritanism  and  a  more  general 
good    neighborliness    held    sway    instead. 

THE    CLOSING    YEARS 

The  health  of  Obadiah  began  to  fail  rapidly  after  he  went  to  Nashville, 
and  he  died  there  after  a  long  illness,  on  January  12,  1832,  at  the  early  age 
of  fifty-four  years.  His  brother  Jonathan  was  at  this  time  living  in  retirement 
on  his  farm  near  Charlestown,  Indiana,  after  serving  continuously  in  Congress 
until    1830.    William    Wesley    Woolen    is    authority    for    the    statement    that    the 


124  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

closing  years  of  Governor  Jenning's  life  were  saddened  and  shadowed  by  the 
constant  temptation  of  the  social  class,  incident  to  the  political  career  of  many 
public  men  of  large  social  nature  and  good  fellowship,  which  so  eminently 
characterized  Jonathan  Jennings.  His  friends  were  legion  and  many  of  them  at 
home  in  Charlestown  were  so  devoted  to  him,  says  Mr.  Woollen,  that  they  felt 
certain  that  a  retirement  from  Congress  for  a  season  and  removal  from  the  scenes 
and  excitements  of  politics  would  be  highly  beneficial  to  him  morally.  So  they 
voted  against  him  in  the  race  of  1830,  and  he  was  defeated  by  General  John 
Carr,  a  gallant  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812.  This  defeat,  however,  instead  of 
serving  the  purpose  intended,  broke  the  spirit  of  the  genial  and  sensitive  Jennings, 
and  it  appears  from  the  account  of  Mr.  Woolen  that  he  never  recovered  his 
courage  and  hope  and  self-mastery.  He  was  always  kindly  and  uncomplaining, 
but  he  passed  into  a  decline  and  died  July  26,  1834,  in  the  seclusion  of  his 
heme  circle  and  nearest  friends.  They  grieved  for  him  deeply,  and  the  closing 
scenes  as  described  by  Mr.   Woolen   were  very  touching. 

"The  next  day  his  body  was  placed  in  a  common  farm  wagon  and  taken 
to  Charlestown  and  buried.  The  day  was  intensly  hot  and  but  few  were  at 
his  burial,  these  few  being  members  of  his  family  and  particular  friends.  He  was 
laid  to  rest  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  town  and  his  grave  was  unmarked  by  head 
or  foot  stone.  Thus  he  has  remained  until  the  present  time;  and  were  it  not 
that  a  few  men  and  women  still  live  who  were  present  at  his  burial,  no  one 
would  certainly  know  where  the  remains  of  the  first  Governor  of  Indiana  are 
interred." 

This  was  years  ago.  Most  nobly  has  the  State  of  Indiana  atoned  for  this 
long  neglect;  and  in  her  glad  centennial  time  no  name  shines  out  more  mem- 
orable than  that  of  Jonathan  Jennings  whose  grave  will  be  a  Mecca  to  the  lovers 
of   human   freedom    for   generations    to    come. 

SAMUEL    K.    JENNINGS 

Samuel  Kennedy  Jennings  was  the  eldest  of  the  brothers,  of  which  there 
were  five.  He  was  born  in  Essex  county,  New  Jersey,  June  6,  1771,  and  was 
educated  at  Rutgers  College.  He  studied  and  practiced  medicine  in  Pennsylvania 
until  1794,  when,  like  his  brother  Obadiah,  he  gave  up  his  regular  practice  and 
became  an  itinerant  Methodist  preacher.  He  was  fully  ordained  to  the  ministry 
in  1814,  two  years  before  Obadiah.  He  moved  to  Baltimore  in  1817  and  became 
one  of  the  prime  movers  for  representation  in  the  conferences  of  the  M.  E. 
denomination.  This  was  a  pioneer  step  and  occasioned  much  discussion  and 
controversy  before  it  was  finally  settled.  But  Samuel  Jennings  was  a  steadfast 
believer  in  democracy  in  church  fellowship  and  became  a  distinguished  pulpit 
orator  and  evangelist.  He  too,  was  a  highly  congenial  and  appreciative  companion 
of  the  youngest  brother,  Jonathan.  Samuel  died  in  October,    1854. 

THE  MONUMENT  TO  GOVERNOR  JENNINGS 

William  Wesley  Woolen,  who.  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  wrote  one  of 
the  most  appreciative  sketches  of  Jonathan  Jennings  ever  published,  paid  him 
this  high  tribute:  "Men  who  plant  civilization  in  the  wilderness,  who  organize 
backwoodsmen    into    communities,     and    throw    around    them     the    protection     of 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETIN'  125 

the  law,  should  not  be  forgotten.  They  render  mankind  a  priceless  service,  and 
those  who  come  after  them  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labor  and  sacrifices 
should  never  tire  in  honoring  their  memory.  Jonathan  Jennings  was  such  a 
man,  and  Indiana  owes  him  more  than  she  can  compute.  He  fought  slavery  to 
the  death  when  it  sought  to  fasten  itself  upon  her  territory.  He  helped  secure 
for  her  sons  and  daughters  the  best  portion  of  her  rich  and  fertile  lands,  and 
yet  he  sleeps  the  long  sleep  without  a  stone  to  mark  his  resting  place.  Shame 
on    Indiana!" 

This  was  the  earnest  thought  of  others  for  many  years  until  the  tardy 
tribute  of  respect  due  him  from  the  State  was  fully  paid  by  a  beautiful  monu- 
ment in  Charlestown  cemetery.  Years  ago,  when  the  writer  was  a  boy  and  attend- 
ed the  Old  Settler's  Meeting  at  Charlestown,  he  heard  a  notable  speech  from 
a  fine  Hoosier  character  in  the  dialect  of  early  days.  This  speech  had  lots  of 
influence   in   bringing   about   the   erection   of   the   monument. 

THE   TRAGEDY  OF  THE   TWO  JENNINGS   BROTHERS 

In  appearance  Governor  Jennings  was  an  exceedingly  handsome  man; 
broadshouldered  and  heavy  set  in  later  years,  but  possessing  wonderful,  fine, 
blue  eyes,  fair  complexion  and  pleasing  features.  He  was  always  a  student  and 
thinker  and  surrounded  himself  with  books  and  friends  who  were  his  joy  and 
solace  till  he  breathed  his  last  on  earth.  He  was  one  public  servant  of  whom 
it  might  be  truly  said,  that  he  never  betrayed  a  trust.  He  had  the  New  England 
integrity  without  austerity  or  stinginess.  He  was  neither  mercenary  in  money 
matters  nor  small-minded  in  his  moral  estimates.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  merciful, 
humorous  and  humane.  He  was  not  pugnacious  and  contentious  like  so  many 
men  in  the  religious  and  political  life  of  the  time.  On  the  contrary  he  was  sweet- 
tempered,  good-natured  and  pre-eminently  social  and  companionable.  He  was 
courteous  and  considerate  even  toward  his  enemies.  Even  when  defending  him- 
self against  moral  or  political  attack  he  did  not  indulge  in  abuse,  misrepresenta- 
tion or  slander.  And  in  an  age  when  so  many  politicians  of  national  prominence 
fought  duels  he  refused  to  be  governed  by  the  code  or  custom.  He  had  no  desire 
to  risk  his  own  life  in  a  foolhardy  manner  nor  to  shed  the  blood  of  his  fellow 
man  for  naught.  One  of  his  political  enemies  called  him  a  pitiful  cowaid,  but 
let  history  and  humanity  judge  him   in   that   respect. 

Tradition  has  it  that  he  told  a  good  story  always  to  win  the  crowd.  That 
was  Lincoln-like  and  characteristically  Hoosier.  His  brother  Obadian  was  like- 
wise humorous,  imaginative  and  witty  in  an  age  when  ministerial  dignity  and 
solemnity  were  proverbial.  What  a  pity  that  these  two  Jennings  brothers,  so 
congenial  and  like-minded,  could  not  always  have  been  in  touch  with  each  other. 
No  mention  is  made  in  the  biographical  account  of  Obadiah  as  an  attorney, 
that  he  was  ever  tempted  to  be  intemperate  by  the  social  indulgence  of  the  time. 
He  left  the  legal  profession  because  he  was  mentally  and  morally  weary  of  con- 
troversy and  desired  peace  with  God  and  man.  His  debate  with  Alexander  Camp- 
bell was  spoken  of  as  unexpected  on  his  part  and  was  doubtless  partly  due  to 
Obadiah  Jennings  being  in  ill-health  at  the  time.  Otherwise  he  would  certainly 
have  avoided  religious  controversy,  though  in  that  respect  he  was  doubtless  will- 
ing to  measure  intellects  with  any  disputant  so  worthy  and  distinguished  as 
Mr.    Campbell. 


126  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Some  of  the  greatest  Presbyterian  ministers  of  the  age  declined  doctrinal 
controversy  out  of  a  sense  of  moral  harmony.  John  C.  Young  and  Robert  J. 
Breckinridge  of  Kentucky  took  that  position  when  asked  to  debate  with  Mr. 
Campbell;  and  a  certain  minister,  who  was  in  Nashville  while  Obadiah  Jen- 
nings was  there  as  a  pastor,  makes  the  statement  that  Dr.  Jennings  was  uncom- 
panionable and  contentious  where  he  would  ordinarily  at  least  have  been  good 
natured  and  genial.  Evidently  Dr.  Jennings  was  not  himself.  He  was  very  ill 
at  the  time  and  no  doubt  the  challenges  of  that  aggressive  religious  age  and 
generation  jarred  upon  his  nerves  until  he  seemed  to  this  minister  to  be  out  of 
harmony   in   the  pulpit   and   public. 

Nevertheless  he  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  congregation  and  was  just 
beginning  to  be  well  established  in  the  regard  of  the  community  when  death 
ended  his  career.  He  was  offered  a  vacation  and  a  trip  away  for  his  health;  but 
it  was  too  late.  One  very  sad  fact  is  related,  namely,  that  Dr.  Jennings  was 
homesick  for  the  work  he  left  at  Washington,  Pa.,  when  he  accepted  the  call 
to  Nashville  in  April,  1828.  A  goodly  revival  began  in  the  Washington  church 
as  he  was  preparing  to  leave  for  Nashville,  and  the  people  grieved  to  lose  him, 
so  that  he  would  not  have  gone  had  not  his  word  already  been  given.  Hence 
it  was  nearly  four  years  after  he  went  to  Nashville  before  he  felt  that  deep  and 
tender  attachment  for  his  new  congregation  that  time  and  association  alone  can 
produce.  Naturally,  therefore,  he  was  somewhat  morbid  in  his  closing  years. 
But  his  final  end  was  peaceful.  Receiving  a  glass  of  water  from  his  attendant, 
he  remarked  that  he  would  soon  drink  of  the  Water  of  Life  in  the  Better  Land. 
So  well  was  he  beloved  by  all  the  congregations  he  had  served  that  memorial 
services  were  held  in  every  one  of  them.  He  died  just  about  two  years  before 
his  brother  Jonathan,  and  we  may  well  imagine  the  grief  his  death  brought 
the   younger   brother. 

There  is  no  record  or  tradition  as  to  the  mental  or  spiritual  attitude  of 
Jonathan  Jennings  himself  in  prospect  of  passing  away.  The  solitary  burial 
by  his  own  immediate  family  and  closest  friends  makes  us  suppose  that  he  was 
laid  to  rest  with  a  few  brief  Masonic  ceremonies.  Even  this  is  very  uncertain. 
With  neither  church  nor  lodge  in  charge  of  the  funeral  service,  we  have  grave 
apprehensions  that  Jonathan  Jennings  died  in  seclusion  of  a  broken  heart.  He 
certainly  was  not  a  skeptic,  and  neither  was  he  out  of  touch  with  his  Masonic 
brethren.  Mr.  Woollen  declares  that  the  defeat  inflicted  upon  him  by  his  personal 
and  political  friends  did  not  change  him  in  any  respect.  Instead,  it  wounded 
him  more  deeply  morally,  and  he  retired  within  himself  and  his  health  rapidly 
declined. 

"This  habit,"  says  Mr.  Woollen,  "the  single  vice  of  his  life,  followed  him 
to  the  grave."  His  home  near  Charlestown  was  the  political  Mecca  of  the  young 
men  of  Southern  Indiana  and  the  custom  was  for  the  social  glass  to  go  round 
on  occasion.  There  was  a  still  on  the  farm,  says  Mr.  Woollen,  which  was  true 
of  the  whole  pioneer  country.  Then,  too,  the  wear  and  tear  of  political  contro- 
versy had  its  effect  upon  the  physical  health  of  Governor  Jennings,  and  he 
evidently  yielded  to  this  indulgence  as  a  temporary  relief  from  the  strain.  Finally 
it  became  a  habit  and  a  disease  and  ended  his  career  in  its  prime.  This  was  one 
cause  of  the  long  neglect  and  oblivion  into  which  his  grave  and  memory  were 
allowed  to  fall.   But  time  softens  all   things  and  we  would  today  honor  him   anew 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS*  MEETIN'  127 

for  the  great  work  he  accomplished   while  in  his  prime,   and   shed   a   tear  for   the 
tragedy  that  eclipsed  his  usefulness  and  service  so  soon. 

In  the  world  of  Masonic  thought  we  are  taught  to  be  torch-bearers  and 
light-bringers  to  our  age  and  generation.  The  torch  of  truth  is  committed  to 
our  hands  in  the  race  of  life  and  we  bear  it  aloft  and  onward  until  our  strength 
fails  and  our  pace  slackens.  We  then  hand  the  torch  to  another,  younger  possibly, 
who  presses  close  behind  us.  So  in  the  winning  of  the  Great  Northwest  there 
are  brave  torch-bearers  and  light-bringers  who  carried  the  glowing  beacon  far 
into  the  future  of  freedom  and  left  an  undying  memory  after  them.  Such  a 
man  and  Mason  was  Jonathan  Jennings  and  he  has  entered  into  his  own  at  last. 


LYMAN  BEECHER 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


2pt£  0th  JEh  %^uh^x  flkJtM:p  JJWBttg 


f  I  ^V  ERHAPS   the  most  precious   records  in   the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 

1        Church    in   Southern    Indiana    are   the  last   Reminiscences   of   the   Rev. 

r*  Ninian    C.    Dickey,    son   of   Father   John    M.    Dickey,    founder   of    the 

Church  in  Indiana.      These  Reminiscences  were  written  on  his  dying 

bed   for  the  pages  of  the  Indiana  Synod  Magazine  edited   thirty   years   ago  by  his 

son   Rev.    Sol   C.    Dickey,    founder   of   the   Winona    Assembly.      Especially   precious 

to   us   is   the   account   of    the   Old    Mt.    Tabor   Camp    Meeting    of    long    ago,    near 

New  Albany.      This  Church   was   our   second   pastorate   in   Indiana. 

We  reprint  these  Recollections  here  for  lasting  preservation,  giving  full  credit 
to   the   original   sources. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  West,  camp-meetings 
were  common.  Preachers  were  few,  and  during  the  warm  weather  of  summer 
or  fall  they  arranged  for  a  half  dozen  or  more  of  them,  to  hold  protracted  meet- 
ings in  groves.  People  came  to  these  meetings  from  twenty-five  to  one  hundred 
miles  distant.  To  entertain  the  multitudes  was  a  heavy  burden  gladly  borne  by 
those  residing  near  to  the  places  of  meeting.  In  time  it  was  found  easier  to 
make  preparations  beforehand  and  encamp  upon  the  grounds,  and  feed  and  lodge 
friends  and  strangers,  and  so  be  able  also  to  enjoy  the  meetings.  On  my  father's 
farm,  near  the  best  spring  water,  board  tents  or  rough  cottages  were  built  on 
three  sides  of  a  large  square  of  gently  sloping  ground,  well  shaded  with  trees. 
On  the  lower  part  of  this  square  of  ground  a  rough  pulpit  was  boarded  up 
capable  of  holding  a  dozen  or  more  ministers.  Up  against  the  front  of  the  pulpit 
an  elevated  singers'  seat  was  erected  for  ten  or  twelve  of  the  best  singers  to  lead 
the  music.  A  large  shed  that  would  shelter  several  hundred  persons  was  built, 
so  as  to  cover  this  seat  and  a  space  fronting  it.  The  whole  of  the  square  of 
ground,  inclosed  by  the  tents  on  three  sides,  was  filled  with  seats  for  the  multitude. 

Grounds  similarly  arranged  were  prepared  at  Mt.  Tabor,  near  New  Albany. 
Beside  the  board  cottages,  cloth  tents  were  also  used,  and  many  came  in  their 
covered  wagons,  in  which  they  moved  from  older  States,  bringing  provisions 
and  cooking  utensils — the  women  and  little  children  sleeping  in  the  covered 
wagons  and  the  men  and  older  boys  on  the  ground.  Besides  those  entertained  on 
the  grounds,  almost  every  house  for  miles  around  was  thrown  open  to  friends 
and  strangers. 

Once  a  year,  in  my  boyhood  days,  I  attended  meetings  at  each  of  these 
grounds.  Not  only  were  great  preparations  made  for  the  physical  man,  but,  if 
possible,  greater  care  for  the  spiritual.  For  months  before  the  meetings,  special 
prayer  meetings  were  held,  and  the  preaching  was  so  directed  as  to  prepare  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  people  for  a  profitable  time,  when  souls  should  be  edified 
and   saved. 


130 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


Religion  was  the  great  theme  of  conversation  among  Christians.  I  was  often 
particularly  struck  with  the  assurance  of  faith  with  which  many  of  God's  people 
had  ridden  thirty  miles  on  horseback  accompanying  my  father.  Rev.  John  M. 
Dickey,  to  attend  the  camp-meeting  services.  The  ministers  present,  as  I  recall 
them,  were  Revs.  P.  S.  Clelland,  Benj.  M.  Nyce,  McPherson,  Jas.  H.  Johnson, 
Henry  Little,  J.  M.  Dickey  and  Rev.  Samuel  K.  Reed,  the  latter  pastor  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian   Church,   New  Albany,   and   manager  of   the   camp-meeting. 

But  it  was  of  one  day  at  the  Mt.  Tabor  camp-ground  of  which  I  set  out 
to  write.  It  was  in  August,  1841.  Twenty-five  or  thirty,  mostly  young  people, 
accompanying  my  father,  Rev.  John  M.  Dickey,  to  attend  the  camp-meeting 
services. 

On  that  Wednesday  afternoon  all  were  busy  moving  into  their  tents  and 
arranging  for  the  coming  days.  That  evening  service  was  full  of  earnestness 
and  prayer.  The  next  day  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  president  of  Lane  Seminary,  then 
at  his  zenith,  came  on  the  grounds.  Each  day  began  with  what  was  called  family 
prayers  at  sunrise.  Then  breakfast  was  followed  by  a  time  of  secret  prayer  in 
the  woods. 


Mt.   Tabor  Church   at   old   Mt.   Tabor   Oamp   M-eetinj 
near   New   Albany,    Indiana. 


Ground, 


At  9:30  public  worship  began,  and  two  sermons  were  delivered,  the  people 
standing  and  singing  a  hymn  at  the  close  of  the  first  discourse,  the  second  sermon 
often  followed  by  an  earnest  application  of  the  discourses  by  a  third  preacher. 
After  dinner  people  collected  about  the  stand  or  in  groups  in  the  tents  and  sang 
and  prayed  and  talked  for  a  time.  Then  a  sermon  and  exhortation  followed, 
by    two   other   ministers. 

Some  time  before  sundown,  after  an  early  supper,  was  set  apart  for  secret 
devotions.  This  was  followed  by  a  young  men's  prayer  meeting  in  the  school 
house  near  by,  ordinarily  used  for  public  worship  also.  The  great  meeting  was 
at  night,  when  the  best  preachers  were  usually  assigned  the  pulpit,  and  those 
interested  and  seeking  Christ  were  called  forward  to  what  was  designated  the 
inquiry  or  anxious  seat.  At  9  o'clock  sharp,  lights  were  extinguished  and  silence 
and  opportunity  for  sleep  secured.  This  latter  rule  was  unpopular  with  those 
who  wished  to  talk  and  sing,  but  was  strictly  enforced,  so  that  all  were  rested 
and  ready  for  the  next  day's  work.  Thus  the  meetings  were  conducted  up  to 
Tuesday  before  closing  on  Wednesday  morning,  growing  all  this  while  in  interest. 
All   the   preachers,    as   was   the   custom,    in    turn    had    led    the   services,    except    that 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING 


131 


by  common  consent.  Dr.  Beecher,  who  was  in  his  element,  preached  and  exhorted 
oftener  than  the  others.  Monday  or  Tuesday  he  addressed  young  men,  setting 
forth  the  need  of  preachers  in  this  fast-filling  West,  and  telling  disciplined  minds 
how,  by  coming  to  Lane  Seminary,  they  might  soon  be  sent  forth  as  preachers. 
They  wanted  no  uneducated  or  unconsecrated  minds  to  preach,  but  many,  he  said, 
who  had  not  had  opportunity  for  a  collegiate  education,  by  other  means  might 
be  qualified  by  a  special  course  of  study  for  preachers.  This  special  course  they 
proposed  to  give.  The  earnest  appeal  of  the  doctor  led  several  to  give  them- 
selves to  the  ministry,  some  of  whom  took  full  collegiate  and  theological  courses, 
among  the  latter  being  Rev.  C.  C.  Hart  and  the  writer. 

At  the  hour  for  evening  secret  devotion,  Tuesday,  I  walked  out  with  a 
young  man  into  the  woods  assigned.  These  woods  extended  down  a  ravine  to 
Silver  Creek,  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  camp-ground.  Nearly  this  whole 
distance  had  to  be  traversed  by  us  before  we  found  a  place  where  we  could  be 
alone.  Behind  every  tree  and  log  and  brush-heap  some  one  was  kneeling,  and  the 
voice  of  low   earnest  prayer   was  heard   on   every   hand. 


Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  came  to  Vernon  early 
in  thie  Civil  War  and  made  a  great  plea  for  Lincoln  and 
the  Union  in  the  old  Court  House.  The  whole  town 
emit  work  to  hear  him.  He  was  the  guest  at  dinner  of 
Hon.  Lucien  Bingam  at  the  present  Eberhart  home  out 
on    the    hill 


When  we  got  back  to  the  ground  the  young  men's  meeting  had  begun 
in  the  school-room.  The  songs  and  prayers  and  testimonies  and  exhortations 
were  deeply  emotional,  though  very  quiet.  So  great  was  the  interest  in  this  last 
young  peoples  meeting  for  the  year  on  that  ground,  that  it  was  continued  until 
the  second  and  last  bell  was  ringing  for  the  evening's  public  worship.  The  emo- 
tions seemed  too  deep  for  utterance,  and  sighs  were  here  and  there  heard  as  we 
pressed  our  way  down  the  aisles,  each  one  trying  to  get  as  near  the  pulpit  as 
possible.  Back  seats  were  taken  only  when  those  further  forward  were  filled — a 
characteristic,  is  it  not,  of  every  earnest  Christian  audience  that  may  choose  their 
seats? 


132 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


The  preliminary  services,  reading  and  singing  and  prayer,  were  with  unction. 
Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Little  was  the  preacher  for  the  evening,  and  his  sermon  was 
fully  up  to  the  occasion.  He  rose  and  with  unction  announced  his  text,  "The 
harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not  saved."  As  he  stood  and 
silently  viewed  the  large  audience  for  apparently  a  minute,  the  appropriateness 
of  the  text  for  the  last  evening  in  the  meeting  and  the  text  itself,  seemed  to  add, 
if  possible,  to  the  solemnity,  and  deep-drawn  breaths  and  sighs  were  heard 
throughout  the  waiting  throng.  Mr.  Little  usually  preached  in  conversational 
style,  but  this  evening  the  attentive  audience  and  deep  feeling  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  power  seemed  to  inspire  him,  and  he  declaimed  with  a  power  unusual 
even  to  him.  It  was  terrible,  as  he  showed  by  the  Scriptures  and  individual  ex- 
amples of  those  who  had  lost  their  souls  that  men  could  sin  away  their  day  of 
grace.  This  last  evening  of  a  wonderful  meeting  of  power  and  grace  might  end  the 
harvest,  and  God  might  say  of  you  as  of  Ephraim  of  old,  "He  is  joined  to 
his  idol,  let  him  alone."  But  how  soul  encouragingly  did  he  depict  the  love 
of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  show  that  the  harvest  for  his  audience  was  not  yet 
past  but  was   now.    "Now   come   to   Christ   and   be   saved." 


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Jennings  County  Court  House,  Vernon,  Indiana,  where 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  made  his  great  plea  for  Lincoln  and 
Union  during-  the  Civil  War.  Lincoln  told  Beecher  he  could 
do  far  more  for  the  Union  with  his  mouth  than  with  a 
musket.  Beecher  went  from  Vernon  to  England  afterward 
to   plead    the   Union   cause. 


Dr.  Beecher  followed  this  sermon  with  one  of  his  most  searching  and  power- 
ful arguments  and  exhortations.  It  was  at  this  time,  if  I  recollect  aright,  that 
he  went  all  through  heaven  with  a  moralist.  But  search  when  or  where  or  how 
they  would,  as  they  looked  into  heaven  by  the  glass  of  revelation,  everything 
repelled  the  moralist.  Christ  was  all  in  all.  Even  creation  was  not  celebrated  in 
heaven  like  Christ  and  his  work.  As  he  depicted  the  disappointment  and  disgust 
of  the  sinner  in  heaven,  who  could  not  endure  Christ  here,  you  could  fairly 
see   them   as  they   rushed   to   get   away   from   the   holy   place.    And   if   heaven    were 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  133 


so  intolerable  for  the  sinner,  what  must  hell  be,  from  all  the  figures  and  descrip- 
tions God  gave  to  describe  that  place.  Then  came  the  earnest  presentation  of 
the  living  Christ  and  salvation,  peace  and  joy  and  eternal  bliss  through  Him. 

When  the  doctor  ceased  his  address,  Mr.  Sneed,  who  had  arisen  and  stood 
at  his  side  on  one  end  of  the  pulpit,  at  once  cried  out:  "Let  five  of  these  first 
seats  be  vacated  by  Christians  and  all  others  who  are  not  ready  to  come  to 
Christ,"  and  leaping  over  the  breast-work  of  the  pulpit  to  the  singer's  seat  and 
then  to  the  ground,  he  bid  all  who  would  be  saved  come  to  the  vacated  seats, 
thus  showing  their  purpose  to  seek  and  accept  Christ.  The  audience  rose  to  their 
feet  and  began  to  sing  and  inquirers  came  rushing  to  the  seats  and  soon  filled 
them,  when  two  more  were  vacated  and  filled.  When  persons  having  ceased  to 
come,  Mr.  Sneed  stood  upon  a  seat  and  counted,  and  then  came  to  where  Dr. 
Beecher  stood,  only  a  few  feet  from  me  and  said:  "Doctor,  there  are  199."  "We 
must  have  that  other  man,"  replied  the  doctor,  and  he  mounted  a  bench,  and 
lifting  up  his  right  hand,  cried  in  a  mighty  voice  that  rang  through  all  thes 
woods:  "Here  are  199  for  the  kingdom.  Where  is  that  other  hundredth  sheep? 
In  God's  name  I  call  for  that  sheep!"  In  another  short,  sharp,  loving  call,  he 
besought  men  not  to  let  the  harvest  pass  unimproved,   when  thirty   more  came. 

The  next  morning  I  heard  John  Loughmiller,  an  elder  of  the  Second  Church, 
New  Albany,  and  no  man  knew  the  audience  better  than  he,  say:  "There  was 
not  an  impenitent  sinner  left  on  the  ground  unreached." 

I  see  from  Dr.  Fisher's  article  in  reference  to  Dr.  Little  in  the  Church  at 
Home  and  abroad,  January,  1895,  and  also  from  Rev.  C.  C.  Hart's  notice  in 
the  February  number  of  that  periodical,  that  they  put  the  number  of  persons 
first  coming  forward  on  that  eventful  evening  at  ninety-nine  instead  of  199, 
and  that  Dr.  Beecher  did  the  counting.  Of  course,  after  the  lapse  of  fifty-four 
years,  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  was  a  wide-awake  boy  of  eighteen  years.  I 
occupied  one  of  the  vacated  seats  and  then  stood  in  the  crowd  immediately  in 
front  of  the  pulpit,  often  elbow  to  elbow  with  the  preachers  moving  in  that 
throng,  and  I  think  I  am  correct  in  my  report.  In  either  case  God  was  glorified 
and  men  were  saved. 

Lessons  from  this  history  press  upon  my  mind.  But  my  article  is  already 
too  long  for  the  editors  and  perhaps  for  readers  too,  but  let  me  say,  first,  great 
things  from  God  must  be  sought  by  earnest  prayers,  and  planned  and  worked  for; 
second,  we  do  not,  perhaps,  really  forget  anything.  Each  day  transactions  are 
imprinted  on  the  leaf  of  the  mind,  and  though  that  leaf  may  be  turned  over,  as 
it  were,  the  indelible  imprint  is  there  and  only  needs  to  be  called  up. 

Things  written  in  this  and  other  articles  have  not  been  thought  of  for 
years;  but  asked  to  write  reminiscenses  they  have  come  up  with  the  vividness 
as  of  yesterday.  How  important  that  our  thoughts  and  actions  be  right,  that  our 
remembrances  be  pleasant  and  happifying.  How  essential  to  our  peace  and 
blessedness  that  all  bad  emotions  and  deeds  be  covered  with  Christ's  canceling  blood. 

We  would  not  go  back  to  the  camp-meeting  days  of  the  thirties  and  forties. 
As  ministers  and  churches  increased  they  were  not  needed  and  lost  their  power, 
and  our  fathers  abandoned  them.  One  such  day  as  that  spoken  of  at  Mt.  Tabor 
was  one  of  a  life-time.  Now,  in  single  churches,  we  see  fifty  and  one  hundred  at 
once. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


0'lm  jM>  TMxkt^ 

The  following  letter  is  a  character  sketch  of  John  M.  Dickey,  by  his  grand- 
son, Elder  W.  A.  Britan: 

August    7,    1914 
Rev.  Lucien  V.  Rule,   Goshen,   Ky. 
Dear    Sir    and    Brother: 

Your  letter  came  to  hand  several  days  since,  but  I  have  been  so  busy  thresh- 
ing and  the  work  attending  it  that  I  have  not  had  the  time  to  give  your  letter 
the  attention  it  should  have.  I  do  not  think  I  can  give  you  much  more  infor- 
mation than  you  have.  The  sketch  of  "Father  Dickey"  in  the  Old  Clark  County 
history  was  written  by  my  mother,  Jane  Dickey  Britan;  and  I  wrote  sketches  of 
the  history  of  Pisgah  and  the  New  Washington  Churches  for  the  late  history  of 
Clark  County  by  Capt.  Baird,  to  which  I  would  refer  you.  I  have  sent  your 
letter  to  my  sister,  A.  L.  Britan,  Sellersburg,  Indiana,  who  is  a  better  family 
historian  than  I  am;  and  she  may  be  able  to  give  you  some  additional  infor- 
mation. The  full  history  of  Pisgah  Church,  written  by  Father  Dickey,  is  in  the 
care  of  Mr.  G.  P.  Swan,  Clerk  of  the  Session  of  the  New  Washington  Pres- 
byterian Church.  This  is  an  interesting  document  and  should  be  placed  in  the 
historical  archives  of  the  church  or  state. 

The  original  Pisgah  church  building  was  a  log  structure  on  the  hills  near 
the  mouth  of  Camp  Creek,  but  the  church  growing,  it  was  moved  nearer  the 
source  of  this  creek,  and  a  commodious  brick  structure  built.  Father  Dickey  in 
some  way  received  160  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  church  site  on  which  he  had 
erected  a  comfortable  log  house,  which  is  still  in  use  and  in  a  good  state  of 
preservation.  There  was  also  a  loom  house  in  which  the  good  wife  wove  the 
wool,  flax,  etc.,  raised  on  the  farm  and  in  the  neighborhood,  into  clothing  and 
for  household  use.  He  took  much  interest  in  agriculture  and  horticulture,  and 
the  first  agricultural  papers  I  ever  read  were  some  old  ones  that  he  had  care- 
fully preserved.  Besides  ministering  well  to  his  own  congregation,  he  made  long 
missiontary  tours  on  horseback,  composing  his  sermons  often  as  he  rode,  and 
moderating  Presbyteries  or  Synods,  dressed  in  blue  jeans'  trousers  of  his  wife's 
cut  and  make.  In  these  travels  he  also  tried  to  teach  and  add  to  his  agricultural 
and  horticulural  experiments,  as  he  tried  to  have  all  kinds  of  fruits,  grains  and 
stock  on  his  farm.  At  one  time  while  staying  over  night  in  his  travels,  he  told 
them  of  a  breed  of  sheep  that  he  had,  that  had  wool  twelve  inches  long.  After 
he  had  gone  to  bed  he  overheard  the  family  talking  about  him.  Said  he  seemed 
to  be  a  mighty  nice  kind  of  a  man,  but  they  would  have  thought  more  of  him 
if   that    "wool    had    not    been    so    long." 

He  must  have  gotten  most  of  his  living  from  his  farm,  as  he  had  several 
sons  to  help  him  attend  it,  as  his  carefully-kept  account  of  what  he  received 
from  his  congregation  during  his  ministry  only   averaged   $80   a  year. 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING 


135 


He  was  a  great  believer  in  and  worker  for  education.  There  was  a  log 
school  house  put  up  within  ten  rods  of  the  church,  and  one  of  his  sons,  after- 
ward the  Rev.  N.  S.  Dickey,  father  of  Rev.  Sol.  C.  Dickey,  taught  there. 
Besides  the  education  of  his  own  family,  he  had  a  deep  interest  in  the  higher 
education    of    the    community. 


Grave  of  Rev.  John  M.  Dickey,  "Father  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Indiana,"  and  great  Abolitionist.  A 
native  of  South  Carolina,  educated  in  Kentucky  and  fore- 
most hero  among-  the  "Forerunners  of  Lincoln"  in  Southern 
Indiana.  The  grave  is  near  New  Washington  in  Clark 
County  and  was  taken  by  Rev.  F.  W.  Grossman,  D.  D.  in 
1914. 

Dr.  Grossman  copied  the  inscriptions  on  the  tombs  of  John  M.  Dickey 
and    Mrs.    Dickey: 

"Rev.  John  M.  Dickey,  died  November  21.  1849,  aged  59  years,  11  months 
and  5  days.  A  Pioneer  Preacher  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Indiana. 
'He  was  a  good  man.  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith,  and  much  people 
was    added    to    our    Lord.'  "      Size    of    tombstone    about    16x35    inches. 

"Margaret  O.  S.,  wife  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Dickey,  died  October  24,  1847,  aged 
49  years,  6  months  and  18  days.  She  was  a  faithful  wife  and  mother,  and 
a    sincere    Christian."      Size    of    tombstone    about    15y2x31    inches. 

Otiisco,    Indiana,    5 -IS-' 14 

Found  the  tombstone  you  mention  2%  miles  from  New  Washington  in 
private  cemetery.  My  daughter  took  photo  of  it.  All  the  stones  face  the 
east  except  Mr.  Dickey's.  His  wife's  grave  is  alongside  of  his,  but  it  fa.ces 
the  east.  My  daughter  took  snap  shot  and  time  exposure  ibecause  the  stone 
is    under   large    cedar   trees. 

I  found  a  lot  of  interesting  material  about  Dickey.  His  church  is  torn 
down  and  turned  into  part  of  residence  nearby.  I  met  his  grandson.  W.  A. 
Britan,  who  has  the  historical  watch  of  Dickey's  in  'his  possession.  He  lives 
at    Bethlehem. 


There  was  in  his  congregation  a  rich  Englishman,  Mr.  Thomas  Stevens, 
who  owned  fine  farms  in  "Bethlehem  Bottom."  He  induced  him  to  build  a 
brick  seminary  or  academy,  or  perhaps  more  properly,  a  boarding  school  was 
established,  to  which  teachers  from  Massachusetts  were  brought,  and  he  left  his 
farm  to  live  in  the  seminary  and  board  the  teachers  and  pupils.  My  mother  was 
educated  here  and  also  at  Hanover.  This,  then,  was  the  way  in  which  he  was 
helpful   in  establishing  schools  and   the  college. 


13  6  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

This  Seminary  Building  in  Bethlehem  Bottom  gave  name  to  the  farm,  which 
was  long  known  by  the  name  of  the  "Seminary  Farm:"  and,  remodeled  as  it 
is  now,  it  forms  the  fine  residence  on  this  farm,  and  is  my  home,  and  I  am 
writing  this  sketch  seated  in  one  of  the  old  school   rooms. 

After  the  unfortunate  division  of  the  church  on  the  slavery  question,  Father 
Dickey  transferred  his  allegiances  from  Hanover  to  Wabash  College  at  Crawfords- 
ville,  giving  to  this  institution  $100  and  receiving  a  scholarship  for  all  his 
children  and  grandchildren  who  might  wish  to  attend  there.  Two  of  his  children, 
Rev.  N  S.  Dickey  and  Wm.  M.  Dickey,  graduated  from  there,  and  Rev.  Sol.  C. 
Dickey  and  Prof.  Dan  Hains  of  Crawfordsville,  are  grandchildren  who  have  been 
connected    with    this    institution. 

In  the  division  of  the  church  much  hard  feeling  was  generated.  I  notice 
in  the  church  record  that  the  clerk  of  his  session  instead  of  speaking  of  him  as 
the  Rev.  John  M.  Dickey,  as  he  had  always  done,  calls  him  "Mr.  Dickey." 
They  also  called  him  "The  Old  Abolitionist,"  and  said  he  ought  to  have  his 
nose  wrung.  It  was  said  that  for  a  long  time  he  was  the  only  voter  of  that 
ticket  (Abolition)  in  the  county,  but  he  said  his  views  would  some  day  be 
popular. 

In  regard  to  his  picture,  it  was  one  of  the  regrets  of  his  life  that  he  was 
not  able  to  leave  one. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  daguerreotyping  had  just  come  into  use  and  he 
was  very  anxious  to  make  use  of  it,  but  he  was  not  able  to  make  the  trip  to 
Madison,  to  have  his  picture  made.  President  Fisher  of  Hanover  College  had  in 
his  collection  what  was  said  to  be  an  oil  painting  of  Father  Dickey  made  by  an 
admiring  artist  in  the  Northern  part  of  the  State.  He  sent  it  down  for  my 
mother  and  family  to  see.  If  this  was  a  genuine  portrait  it  was  made  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  when  he  was  quite  a  young  man,  as  my 
mother  said  it  did  not  look  anything  like  him   as  she   remembered  him. 

I  saw  also  a  made  picture  of  him  in  a  sketch  of  the  Dickey  family  published 
in  the  Herald  and  Presbyter  a  number  of  years  since,  in  which  were  pictured 
four  generations  of  a  branch  of  the  Dickey  family;  Father  Dickey,  Rev.  Ninian 
S.  Dickey,  Rev.  Sol.  C.  Dickey  and  his  son.  Uncle  Ninian  had  this  picture 
made  from  a  modified  picture  of  himself  dressed  in  the  coat,  stock,  and  straight 
square  clerical  cut  of  the  hair  of  the  times.  This,  my  mother  said,  looked  a 
good  deal  like  him.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  picture  could  be  obtained 
now  or  not.      Cousin   Sol.   Dickey  might  know  something   about   it. 

I  do  not  know  just  when  Father  Dickey  crossed  the  Ohio  River,  but  it  was 
probably   about    1816,    as  he  was  married   in   this   State  in    1818. 

I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  seen  you  when  you  were  so  near  here,  and 
gone  over  some  of  these  historic  grounds  with  you,  Dr.  Howk  took  from  me 
as  relics  to  New  Albany  Presbytery  a  brick  from  the  old  Pisgah  Church  and 
a  watch  which  I  had  often  heard  my  mother  speak  of  her  father  losing  in  a 
pasture  near  his  house  while  feeding  his  hogs,  and  I  used  to  think  I  would  like 
to  find  it;  so,  sure  enough,  when  plowing  that  field,  which  had  long  been  used 
as  a  permanent  pasture,  we  plowed  it  up.  It  was  an  old  English  Bull's  Eye, 
double  silver  case,  chain  and  verge  movement,  and  you  would  be  surprised  to 
see  the  excellent  condition  of  the  movement  after  being  lost  and  buried  for  more 
than   75    years. 

I  do  not  know  whether  what  I  have  written  will  be  of  any  help  to  you, 
but  will  be  glad  to  see  you  if  you   can  visit  me. 

Very   truly   yours, 

W.  A.  BRITAN. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

%hhxt^m  at  tUt  ^ttutxal 
mi  Jiktmtxtnk  piinmm  jl\  ^ithtn 

f-m  ^V  ESPITE  the  skill  of  the  physicians,  the  faithful  ministrations  of  tender 
1  hands,  the  earnest  prayers  of  loving  hearts,  death  has  been  permitted 
^0^^J  to  triumph;  and  from  this  household,  and  from  this  commonwealth, 
with  whose  higher  interests  he  has  been  so  long  identified,  this 
faithful  consecrated  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been  called  to  his  everlasting 
reward. 

We  had  hoped  that  he  would  be  spared  to  us  for  some  time  yet  to  give  to 
the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  through  his  pen  as  well  as  through  his  spoken  word, 
the  benefit  of  his  thorough  Bible  scholarship  and  his  long  years  of  ripened 
experience.  But  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways.  One  day  we  shall  see  that  they 
are  immeasurably  better  than  any  we  have  planned.  So  now  we  will  seek  to  gain 
more  of  that  spirit  of  large  confident  faith  that  says:  "Father,  thy  will  be  done, 
for  thy  will  is  our  well-being."  As  a  solid  foundation  for  such  faith  we  have 
given  us  in  the  Scriptures  I  have  read  two  great  truths;  they  are  truths  that  were 
wrought  in  the  very  life  of  this  minister  of  Christ,  whose  departure  we  mourn. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  truth  of  the  universality  of  God's  providence. 

One  of  the  last  counsels  Mr.  Dickey  gave  in  writing  to  his  children  had 
in  it  these  words:  "Don't  *  *  *  distrust  providence."  We  will  not  do  so.  We 
will  remember  that  "the  Lord  reigneth"  over  all  the  events  of  the  world — over 
death  as  well  as  over  birth  and  life. 

Death  is  no  accident.  The  workings  of  disease,  unexpected  as  they  may  be 
to  us,  are  not  outside  the  Divine  plans.  So,  today,  in  our  sorrows  we  will 
strengthen  our  hearts  with  the  great  truth,  "The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath 
taken  away."  And  the  other  blessed  foundation  for  our  faith  in  the  midst  of 
this  bereavement  is  that  set  forth  in  the  triumphant  words  of  the  apostle,  "Our 
Savior,  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  abolished  death  and  brought  life  and  immorality 
to    light." 

Disguise  it  as  we  may,  death  is  the  king  of  terrors.  The  nameless  dread 
of  it  burdens  many  a  man's  spirit. 

How  pitiful  are  some  of  the  attempts  which  men  make  to  meet  it  in  the 
strength  of  their  own  philosophy  or  will-power.  "Thanks  be  unto  God  who 
giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  He  did  that  in  a  wonder- 
ful way  for  this  servant  of  His.  He  abolished  for  this  man  not  the  experience 
of  death,  but  all  fear  of  it.  He  faced  it  with  a  quietness  and  peace  that  those 
who  looked  upon  can  never  forget. 

It  is  not  for  me  today  to  attempt  in  any  adequate  way  the  story  of  his 
life.  It  will  be  done,  I  trust,  by  competent  hands  and  left  as  a  legacy,  not  merely 
to    the   immediate    relatives,    but    to    the    Synods    of    Indiana    and    Illinois,    and    to 


138 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  for  this  is  more  than  a  family  bereavement. 
Wc  are  richer  in  this  and  other  commonwealths  of  our  nation,  because  of  his 
consecrated  life   and   long   and    faithful   labors. 

Rev.  Ninian  S.  Dickey  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  He  came  from  a  long 
line  of  Presbyterian  ancestors.  His  great  grandfather  came  to  America  in  1737, 
and  settled  in  North  Carolina.  His  grandfather,  David  Dickey,  was  a  man  of 
unusual  intelligence  and  marked  piety.  His  father,  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Dickey,  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Indiana  Presbyterianism.  He  was  the  fourth  Presbyterian 
minister  to  enter  the  Territory  of  Indiana.  It  was  then  an  almost  unbroken 
wilderness,  with  only  half  a  score  of  small  settlements,  and  the  log-cabins  of 
the  pioneers  scattered  here  and  there.  Dr.  Gillett,  in  his  "History,"  speaks  of 
Di.  John  M.  Dickey  as  "The  Father  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Indiana." 
He  was  the  first  minister  to  be  installed  over  a  Presbyterian  church  in  the  Ter- 
ritory. He  crossed  the  Ohio  from  Kentucky  in  1814,  and  settled  in  what  is  now 
Clark    County,    about    half-way    between    Madison    and    New    Albany.       He    was 


REV.     NINIAN     S.     DICKEY 

Son    of    Rev.    John    M.    Dickey    and     father    of    Rev.    Sol     C. 
Dickey,    the    founder    of   Winona    Assembly,    Indiana. 


pastor  of  the  New  Washington   Church   for  more   than   a   third   of  a   century. 

There  in  that  log-cabin  in  the  wilderness — that  parsonage  sanctified  by 
the  lives  of  the  pioneer  minister  and  his  godly  wife — Ninian  S.  Dickey  was 
born  November  22,  1822.  His  early  years  were  spent  on  the  small  farm  owned 
by  his  parents.  He  received  the  beginning  of  his  education  from  his  father  and 
mother  and  in  the  school  of  the  district  maintained  during  some  months  of 
each  year. 

One  who  knew  him  well  says,  "He  was  always  a  Christian.  I  have  often 
heard  him  say  that  he  never  knew  the  time  when  he  became  a  Christian,  that  he 
always  prayed  and  always  felt  that  he  was  a  child  of  the  King."  From  childhood 
to    old    age    he    led    a    singularly    clean,    pure    life — never    making    use    of    tobacco 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  139 

or  intoxicants.  His  father  before  him  was  a  man  of  strict  temperance  practices, 
in  a  day  when  such  practices  were  rare  even  among  professing  Christians.  That 
father   preached    the    first    temperance   sermon    ever   delivered    in    Indiana. 

In  1843,  Mr.  Dickey,  then  in  his  twenty-first  year,  started  to  college.  In 
early  youth  he  had  decided  to  enter  the  ministry,  if  only  he  could  receive  the 
education.  But  the  means  of  the  education  required  were  not  provided  and  ready 
at  hand  as  they  are  now.  His  father's  home  was  one  of  poverty.  The  family 
was  large,  the  salary  was  meagre.  A  life-long  friend  present  here  today  declares 
that  that  pastor's  family  would  have  starved  had  it  not  been  for  what  they  raised 
on  the  little  farm.  The  father  and  the  son  labored  like  the  great  apo°de,  working 
with  their  own  hands   that   they  might  proclaim   the   Gospel   to   men. 

When  young  Dickey  set  out  on  the  long  journey  to  Wabash  College  at 
Crawfordsville,  he  had  as  his  possessions  five  dollars  in  money  and  the  horse 
upon  which  he  rode.  Yet  from  that  time  on  he  was  self-supporting.  He  remem- 
bered the  deprivation  of  his  home  and  determined  not  to  draw  on  the  slender 
resources  of  his  parents.  He  was  fortunate  in  securing  a  home  with  Col.  Wilson, 
of  Crawfordsville,  with  whom  he  lived  for  five  years  until  his  graduation,  pay- 
ing for  his  board  by  extra  work  for  the  household. 

Graduating  in  the  class  of  1848,  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he  entered 
Lane  Seminary  at  Cincinnati.  There,  as  at  college,  he  provided  for  his  own 
maintenance.  The  most  of  the  three  years  of  seminary  life  were  spent  in  the 
home  of  Dr.  Calvin  E.  and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  Young  Mr.  Dickey's  education 
had  been  all  anti-slavery — in  spirit — and  he  was  a  sympathetic  listener  to  tile 
many  tales  of  sorrow  of  the  experiences  of  the  slaves,  told  to  and  by  the  mem- 
bers  of   the   Stowe   household. 

In  after  years,  when  it  was  safe  so  to  do,  he  loved  to  speak  of  how  he 
helped  some  of  the  fugitives  from  bondage  through  the  underground  railroad 
on  their  way  to  freedom. 

His  first  pastorate  was  in  the  Pisgah  Church  of  New  Washington,  Ind., 
the  church  to  which  his  father  had  ministered  so  long.  There  he  labored  for 
ihrce  years,  and  then  in  Columbus,  Indiana,  for  some  eighteen  years,  laying  deep 
and  wide,  not  only  in  that  city,  but  here  and  there  throughout  the  whole  Presby- 
tery, the  foundations  of  fruitful  and  enduring  church  organizations.  Then  he 
went  to  Illinois,  where  for  twelve  years  he  ministered,  following  with  two  years' 
work  in  Kansas.  Returning  to  this,  his  own  State,  at  Danville,  at  Indianapolis 
and  at  Brookstown,  he  kept  on  in  his  work  for  seven  years  more,  when  disease 
crippled  him.  So  for  forty  and  two  years  he  was  untiring  as  a  laborer  in  Christ's 
vineyard,  preaching  more  than  seven  thousand  sermons,  uniting  in  marriage  some 
nine  hundred  couples,  officiating  at  the  funeral  of  fifteen  hundred  persons. 

He  helped  to  organize  a  number  of  churches,  and  built  seven  church  edifices. 
He  has  been  exceptionally  successful  in  leading  young  men  into  the  ministry. 
He  was  a  valuable  contributor  to  the  religious  press,  and  even  during  the  last 
two  years,  since  he  has  been  an  invalid,  has  written  and  published  a  number 
of  articles  on  the  history   of  Presbyterianism   in   Indiana. 

There  comes  to  me  this  day — as  a  passage  that  strikes  the  key-note  of 
this  hour  and  the  life  which  we  honor — the  words  of  the  scripture:  "He  was 
a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith."  More  than  forty-five  years 
ago  those  words  were  used  in  the  church  in  New  Washington,  Ind.,  as  the  text 
for  the  service  commemorative  of  the  life  and  labors  of  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Dickey. 


140  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOEN 

Like  father,  like  son.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be  a  great  man;  it  is  a  great  thing 
to  be  a  good  man.  Rev.  Ninian  S.  Dickey  was  "a  good  man  and  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Thoughtful,  scholarly,  gentle  in  spirit,  exceptionally  earnest  in  his 
desire  to  win  souls  from  sin  to  Christ. 

When  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  was  in  his  last  illness,  some  one  asked  him  what 
was  the  greatest  of  all  things.  He  answered,  "It  is  not  theology,  it  is  not  con- 
troversy; it  is  saving  souls."  For  these  many  years  Mr.  Dickey  made  that  truth 
the  dominant  desire  and  purpose  of  his  life.  He  glorified  his  Redeemer  not 
only  in  his  life  but  in  the  "hour  and  article"  of  death.  He  went  into  the 
"valley  and  the  shadow"  with  a  serenity  and  confidence  of  faith  that  gave 
us  a  new  vision  of  the  riches  of  truth  in  the  assurance,  "Precious  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  His  saints,"  and  inspired  us  to  pray,  "Let  me  die 
the  death  of  the  righteous." 

Out  in  the  hospital,  on  the  morning  when  the  operation  was  to  take  place, 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  children  and  grandchildren,  which  was  afterwards  found 
in  his  Bible.  It  breathes  so  clearly  the  spirit  of  this  man  of  God,  that  I  will 
take  the  liberty  of  reading  parts  of  it: 

Indianapolis  Hospital,  March  11,  1895 
My  Dear  Children:  As  the  hour  draws  near  for  the  amputation  of  my 
limb  I  find  myself  calm  and  trustful.  *  *  *  You  were  all  often,  almost  constant- 
ly, in  my  thoughts  last  night  as  I  lay  awake  most  of  its  hours  with  knee-pain. 
*  *  *  I  have  had  every  attention  I  could  ask,  and  I  know  I  have  the  very  best 
children.  *  *  *  Don't  be  discouraged  nor  distrust  providence.  See  Psalm  ciii: 
17-18.    *    *    *   The  Lord  bless  you   and  yours. 

Lovingly    yours.    N.    S.    Dickey. 

The  words  of  the  Psalm  to  which  he  referred  are  these:  "The  mercy  of 
the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  Him  and  His 
righteousness  unto  children's  children.  To  such  as  keep  His  covenant  and  to 
those  that  remember  His  commandments  to  do  them." 

REV.    N.    S.    DICKEY 

The  following  Editorial  in  the  Indiana  Synod  Magazine  3  0  years  ago,  by 
Rev.  Sol  C.  Dickey  on  the  death  of  his  father  is  a  most  touching  and  beautiful 
tribute  and  we  give  it  here  for  the  inspiration  of  others  as  it  has  so  long  been 
to  us. 

Our  last  issue  contained  an  account  of  the  amputation  of  the  leg  of  our 
father,  Rev.  N.  S.  Dickey.  The  operation  was  most  successfully  performed  on 
March  11th,  at  the  City  Hospital.  The  patient  rallied  wonderfully,  considering 
his  age,  and  for  ten  days  the  physicians  pronounced  his  entire  recovery  assured. 
His  limb  had  healed  perfectly  and  we  were  told  we  could  bring  him  home  in 
less  than  a  week.  He  was  able  to  sleep  and  declared  himself  as  more  comfortable 
than  he  had  been  for  months.  On  Friday  morning.  March  2  2.  he  awoke  after 
a  good  night's  sleep.  But  in  a  short  time  complained  of  nausea,  and  at  seven 
o'clock  surprised  all  by  having  a  severe  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs.  The  hospital 
physicans  pronounced  it  one  of  the  most  severe  hemorrhages  they  had  witnessed. 
This  was  followed  by  three  others,  and  at  half-past  five  o'clock  of  the  same 
day   he   breathed   his  last.    He   was   conscious   within    twenty    minutes    of   his   death, 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  141 

recognizing  all  who  stood  about  him,  and  maintained  the  same  sublime  faith 
and   patience   which   had   characterized   him    in   all   his   long   illness. 

The  disease,  tuberculosis,  which  had  so  long  manifested  itself  in  the  knee, 
had   gone   to   the   lungs    and    silently    accomplished    its    fatal    work. 

There  are  many  incidents  connected  with  his  sickness  and  death  too  sacred 
for  the  public  ear.  His  faith  and  composure  during  all  trials  was  heroic  and 
caused  all  who  beheld  him  to  marvel.  We  shall  miss  him  as  only  God  knows, 
his  prayers,  his  fatherly  counsel,  his  words  of  encouragement  in  dark  hours, 
h:s  intense  interest  in  the  advancement  of  the  church,  especially  in  Indiana,  were 
helpful   beyond   expression. 

To  the  many  friends  who  ministered  to  us,  we,  as  children  return  our 
heartfelt  thanks.  Especially  touching  have  been  the  letters  from  his  different  fields 
of  labor.  We  insert  only  two  of  these  letters,  one  from  his  class-mate,  Professor 
John  Campbell,  LL.  D.,  and  one  from  Mrs.  M.  F.  Hinman,  a  life-long  friend; 
also,  the  resolutions  of  the  Logansport  Presbytery. 

Dear  Mr.   Dickey: 

Please  accept  my  sympathy  for  you  and  your  family  in  the  loss  you  have 
sustained  in  the  death  of  your  loved  father.  This  bereavement  comes  home  to 
me,  especially  as  he  is  the  first  of  the  class  of  1848  who  has  been  taken,  which 
can  rarely  be  said  of  a  class  forty-seven  years  after  graduation.  But  your  father 
was  more  to  me  than  an  ordinary  college  classmate.  We  were  in  Morrison's  Semi- 
nary at  Salem  before  we  entered  college,  so  when  I  came  to  college,  a  homesick 
boy,  his  face  brought  the  first  sunshine,  for  I  was  not  altogether  among  strangers. 
I  was  glad  to  acknowledge  him  as  the  best  scholar  in  our  class,  and  felt  proud 
to  be  second  to  him  in  mathematics.  His  pure  and  unselfish  life  has  been  a 
benediction  to  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  you  have  a  rich  inher- 
itance of  remembrance  of  his  great  success  in  the  work  to  which  his  life  was 
consecrated.  His  patient  endurance  of  physical  suffering  was  wonderful,  and  the 
serene  fortitude  with  which  he  met  the  final  struggle  was  heroic.  The  unseen 
hand  bore  him   up  safely   and   gave  him   the   victory.  Sincerely    yours, 

Crawfordsville,    Ind.  J.    L.    Campbell. 

Editor  of  Indiana  Synod: 

In  your  March  number  I  find  "Some  Reflections"  from  the  pen  of  Rev. 
N.   S.   Dickey  in  connection   with   the  Presbyterian   Church   in   Columbus,    Ind. 

It  was  as  pastor  of  this  people  that  he  spent  the  strength  of  his  early  man- 
hood. For  nearly  eighteen  years  he  went  in  and  out  doing  the  work  of  the 
Master  faithfully  and  well.  The  war  of  the  rebellion  came  on  with  all  its  de- 
moralizing effects.  Religion — politics — currency,  everything  was  trying  in  the 
extreme.  Yet  our  brave  leader  worked  on  sometimes  almost  without  support. 
The  death  of  the  two  elders  he  spoke  of  was  a  sad  blow   to  him  and  the  church. 

His  father,  Rev.  John  M.  Dickey,  of  the  old  Salem  Presbytery,  and  a 
missionary  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  preached  the  first  Presbyterian 
sermon  ever  delivered  in  this  place  in  1822,  though  the  church  was  not  organized 
until  1824.  The  first  church  edifice  erected  by  Presbyterians  was  in  1846,  and 
it  was  over  this  church  Rev.  N.  S.  Dickey  came  to  preside  in  1852.  He  had 
married  Miss  Mary,  second  daughter  of  Dr.  Solomon  Davis,  in  Charlestown,  and 
while  here  "five  olive  branches  sprang  up  around  their  table."  One  drooped 
and   died,    and   two   more   came   to   them    after   their   removal    from    here. 


142  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Their  sainted  mother  left  them  about  two  years  before  their  father  of  blessed 
memory  was  called.  Rev.  N.  S.  Dickey  died  March  22.  surrounded  by  his  children. 
It  was  a  peaceful  and  glorious  departure  from  loved  ones  here  to  those  to  whom 
he   was   reaching   out   both   hands   when   his   freed   spirit   took   its   flight. 

He  was  a  man  of  logical  mind,  eminently  conscientious  and  of  untiring 
energy.  None  knew  him  but  had  perfect  confidence  in  him  as  a  kind,  sympa- 
thetic friend  and  adviser  in  all  their  troubles.  But  his  great  and  good  work  has 
been  well  done;  it  is  finished  personally,  but  will  go  on  in  the  hands  of  his 
son,  Rev.  Solomon  Dickey,  who  with  his  brothers  and  sisters  have  the  loving 
sympathy  of  his  father's  old  Columbus  friends. 

M.   F.   Hinman. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Logansport  Presbytery,  held  in  the  First  Church, 
Michigan  City,  Ind.,  April  10,  1895,  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted: 

"Whereas,  The  Presbytery  has  heard  with  profound  regret  and  sorrow  of 
the  recent  death  of  our  co-Presbyter  and  brother,  Rev.  Ninian  S.  Dickey;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  recall  with  a  sense  of  gratitude  his  long  office  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel,  most  of  which  was  spent  in  our  State,  and  the  best 
part   of   it   within   the   bounds   of   our   Presbytery. 

"Resolved,  That  the  memory  of  his  earnest  labors,  sweet  spirit  and  con- 
secrated life  will  ever  be  an  example  and  inspiration  to  us  in  our  own  work. 

"Resolved,  That  we  hereby  tender  to  his  children  our  sincere  sympathy  and 
prayer  for  the  comfort   of  the  Holy   Spirit   in   their   great   bereavement. 

"Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the  minutes  of  the  Presby- 
tery and  published  in  THE  INDIANA  SYNOD,  and  copy  of  the  same  be  sent 
to  the   family  of  our  deceased  brother."  W.    O.    Lattimore, 

Stated  Clerk. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 


^ifc  ^atktt  &$  ^0®migt  ^j&vmt  jAimmmm 


f*  A  NOTHER  great  debt  that  we  all  owe  to  Rev.  Sol  C.  Dickey  while 
\J  \  he   was   editor   of   the   Indiana   Synod    Magazine    was   the   preservation 

£  \  of  the  most  inspiring  and  precious  Recollections  of  Rev.  Henry 
Little,  Father  of  Home  Missions  in  Indiana  by  Rev.  J.  F.  Tuttle, 
D.  D.  and  Rev.  Ninian  C.  Dickey,  D.  D.,  who  both  knew  Father  Little  so  long 
and  well.  We  again  take  the  liberty  of  reproducing  these  sacred  memorials  for 
time   to   come. 

Dr.  Little  was  the  son  of  Jessie  Little,  and  Martha  Gerrish,  his  wife,  and 
was  born  at  Boscawen,  New  Hampshire,  March  23,  1800.  He  died  at  Madison. 
Indiana,  February  25,  1882.  His  ancestors  were  godly  people.  His  mother  was 
one  "who  knew  who  were  serious  or  accessible  on  the  subject  of  religion  and 
did  what  she  could  for  them,  while  she  brought  up  five  sons  and  four  daughters 
and  had  the  care  of  a  farmer's  household  and  a  dairy;"  and  all  these  nine  children 
were  born  again  in  their  tender  years,  seven  of  the  nine  before  they  were  four- 
teen  years   of   age. 

In  such  a  family,  and  in  the  midst  of  such  influences,  Henry  Little  was  born 
and  nurtured  and  born  again  when  he  was  six  years  old  and  from  the  first  was  a 
decided  Christian.  He  was  a  zealous  student  in  school;  yet  he  engaged  in  farm 
work  with  great  relish.  Three  winters  he  taught  school,  in  the  last  of  which 
he  was  engaged  in  a  precious  revival.  When  he  was  twenty  he  began  to  prepare 
for  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  graduated  with  honor  in  1826,  having  among 
his  classmates  such  distinguished  men  as  Prof.  Milo  P.  Jewett,  Edmund  O.  Hovey 
and  Caleb  Mills,  for  many  years  honored  professors  in  Wabash  College;  President 
Larabee,  of  Middleberry,  Vt.,  Dr.  D.  Howe  Allen  of  Lane  Seminary  and,  more 
famous  still,   Salmon  P.   Chase,   Chief  Justice  of  the  United   States. 

After  he  graduated  he  was  elected  tutor  in  the  college,  but  declined  the 
appointment  and  entered  Andover  Seminary  the  same  year,  and  graduated  at  the 
end  of  the  full  course  in  1829,  and  was  ordained  September  24,  1829,  with 
fifteen  other  young  men.  Four  of  these  were  to  go  abroad  as  foreign  missionaries, 
nine  as  home  missionaries  for  the  West,  and  three  to  become  agents  of  benevolent 
institutions.  The  ordination  took  place  on  Park  Street,  Boston,  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Newburyport.  The  Rev.  John  McDowell,  D.  D.  of  Elizabethtown,  N.  J., 
preached  the  sermon,  and  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D.,  gave  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship. 

For  a  year  and  a  half  he  !abored  with  Dr.  Elias  Cornelius  in  the  "American 
Education   Society."    This  led   him   into   the  West. 

In  June,  1831,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oxford, 
Ohio,  and  proved  that  he  was  eminently  fitted  for  the  pastorial  office.  In  two 
years  he   received    297    members   into   the   church,    chiefly    on   profession. 


144 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


President  Bishop,  of  the  Miami  University,  refused  to  believe  the  repre- 
sentations made  by  the  several  benevolent  societies  who  asked  Dr.  Little  to  be- 
come their  special  agent,  that  he  had  special  talents  for  that  work  rather  than 
for  the  pastoral,  and  he  pointed  to  the  truly  remarkable  record  of  his  two  years' 
pastoral  work  at  Oxford.  His  talents  as  a  preacher  and  organizer  had  become 
fully  recognized  at  home  and  abroad;  and  the  Oxford  pastor  was  in  turn  solicited 
by  four  of  the  great  missionary  societies  to  enter  their  service.  After  a  careful 
examination  of  the  whole  subject  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  at  Oxford, 
and  became  the  Western  agent  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  with 
headquarters  at  Cincinnati. 


REV.      HENRY     LITTLE.      D.      D. 
Father   of    Presbyterian    Home    Missions    in    Indiana. 


He  once  said  to  a  friend  that  the  hardest  trial  of  his  life  was  to  leave  the 
farm,  and  next  to  that  was  to  leave  Oxford,  and  to  finish  what  is  to  be  said 
as  to  his  different  labors,  he  turned  aside  three  times  from  his  home  missionary 
work,  for  a  season,  once  to  raise  $50,000  for  the  Lane  Seminary,  and  later  to 
raise  $10,000  for  the  Western  Female  Seminary,  at  Oxford.  In  October,  183  8, 
he  removed  to  Madison,  Ind.,  and  for  a  year  and  a  half  was  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  receiving  some  sixty  into  the  church.  As  if  to  show  how 
profound  his  interest  in  the  work  of  Home  Missions,  it  is  said  he  spent  twenty 
Sabbaths  in  work  for  that  society  during  his  short  pastorate  at  Madison.  The 
most  important  and  continuous  work  of  his  life  was  in  connection  with  the 
general  agency  of  Home  Missions,  from  183  3  to  1861.  in  connection  with  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society:  from  that  time  until  1869.  with  the  Presby- 
terian Committee  of  Home  Missions,  N.  S.,  and  from  that  until  his  death,  with 
the  Board  of  Home  Missions.  Not  counting  the  brief  interruptions  already  referred 
to.  his  connections  with  the  Home  Missions  continued  nearly  forty-nine  years. 
If  we  regard  his  work  with  Dr.  Cornelius,  a  considerable  part  of  which  was  in 
the  West,  as  part  of  his  missionary  work,  as  it  really  was,  he  was  identified 
with   Home   Missions   in   the   valley   of    the   Mississippi    more   than    fifty    years.    His 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  145 

term  of  service  was  not  only  long,  but  it  was  during  a  very  important  period. 
When  it  began,  Ohio,  as  a  State,  was  not  thirty  years  old,  Indiana  fourteen  years, 
and  Illinois  four.  St.  Louis  had  less  than  6,000  people,  Chicago  not  fifty  voters, 
and  Cincinnati,  then  the  greatest  city  of  the  West,  less  than  25,000  people. 
Population  was  flowing  rapidly  westward,  into  these  wilderness  commonwealths. 
There  was  an  amazing  physical  development.  It  is  hard  for  one  who  looks  at 
these  States  today  to  realize  what  they  were  when  Dr.  Little  came  West  as  a  home 
missionary.  Even  Ohio  was  "in  the  stump,"  and  a  considerable  part  of  her  people 
dwelt  in  cabins.  Northwestern  Ohio  was  still  a  wilderness.  The  lower  half  ot 
Indiana  was  but  sparsely  settled,  and  the  upper  half  was  a  wilderness  with  only 
a  few  thousand  people.  It  was  a  new  country,  but  the  far-sighted  politicians 
even  then  predicted  the  greatness  of  the  new  States. 

Dr.  Little  began  his  home  missionary  work  in  1833.  He  resided  at  Cincin- 
nati until  1838,  when  he  removed  to  Madison,  Indiana,  which  was  his  home 
until  his  death.  His  duty  was  two-fold,  to  raise  money  and  to  organize  the  home 
missionary  work.  Forty-three  years  were  chiefly  devoted  to  Indiana.  I  have  no 
means  of  knowing  how  much  money  he  raised  for  his  work.  It  was  considerable. 
His  most  important  work  was  the  looking  after  the  feeble  churches  of  Indiana, 
and  organizing  new  churches;  in  this  he  has  had  few  equals,  and  no  superior. 
His  qualifications  for  this  pioneer  work  were  peculiar.  Physically  he  was  a  strong 
man,  rarely  sick,  and  a  great  worker.  He  once  said  that  there  had  been  but  few 
days  since  his  boyhood  that  he  was  not  able  to  work.  In  a  modest  way  he  has 
even  boasted  that  he  took  no  vacations.  When  others  were  resting  in  midsummer, 
he  was  harvesting  as  a  strong  gospel  reaper  in  destitute  fields.  Some  of  his  most 
productive  work  was  done  in  the  hot  weather,  when  people  would  gather  in  the 
woods  to  hear  the  Word. 

He  was  a  fluent  and  effective  speaker,  whom  "the  common  people  heard 
gladly."  As  a  speaker  he  seemed  proof  against  fatigue.  To  preach  three  times  a 
day  weeks  together,  hold  inquiry  meetings,  and  converse  with  any  he  met.  seemed 
to  invigorate  him.  He  rarely  declaimed.  When  he  did,  it  was  good  to  hear  his 
glowing  appeals.  His  preaching  was  conversational,  and  it  was  inspiring  in  its 
matter  and  earnestness.  His  range  of  sermons  was  not  as  large  as  if  he  had  been 
a  long  settled  pastor,  but  many  of  his  discourses  were  very  effective.  He  was 
greatly  in  love  with  his  work  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  never  so  happy 
as  in  a  revival.  There  is  a  beautiful  incident  among  his  dying  experiences,  which 
shows  this:  One  at  his  side  suggested  one  day  the  thought,  that  the  nearer  we 
are  brought  to  Jesus,  the  clearer  we  see  our  own  deficiences.  Dr.  Little  replied. 
"When  I  was  converted,  and  as  a  little  boy  began  to  lead  souls  to  Christ — and 
a  good  many  of  them — people  praised  me,  and  I  have  always  been  so  happy 
in  it,  that  within  these  last  two  days  I  have  doubted  if  I  was  ever  born  again, 
and  had  not  done  it  at  all  for  the  praise  of  men!"  It  was  very  touching  with 
his  difficult  speech,  and  his  good  fight  fought.  And  adds  his  son.  "I  think  it  has 
been  his  single  struggle,  lest  being  so  happy  in  turning  souls  to  Christ,  he  may 
have  done  it   only    for  the  praise  of   men!" 

I  have  often  heard  him  preach.  He  never  appeared  at  greater  advantage  than 
in  a  revival.  There  he  was  at  home.  His  desire  to  save  sinners  seemed  like  a  fire 
in  his  bones,  a  holy  passion.  As  I  have  heard  him,  it  has  ceased  to  be  a  wonder 
that    he    has    been    honored    of    God    in    an    extraordinary    number    of    conversions 


146 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


and  revivals.  He  has  often  aided  in  revival  services  in  the  older  churches,  but 
his  glory  is  in  having  been  the  revivalist  of  Home  Mission  fields,  the  waste  and 
neglected  regions.  How  widely,  especially  in  Indiana,  he  has  itinerated  as  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel!  How  many  new  churches  he  has  aided  in  forming!  How 
many  distracted  churches  he  has  healed !  How  many  weak  churches  he  has  helped 
to  become  self-sustaining!  What  a  preacher,  what  a  soul-harvester,  what  a  leader 
he   has   been ! 

In  conversation  he  was  full  of  facts  on  all  topics,  and  ready  to  talk  about 
the  best  stocks  of  sheep  and  cattle,  and  also  to  delight  you  with  information 
about    the   cedar   of    Lebanon,    or    the    hyssop    that    springs    out    of    the    wall.    He 


Father  Gale  of  New  Albany.  Pioneer  Presbyterian 
Sunday  School  organizer,  who  was  a  worthy  contemporary 
of  Rev.  Henry  Little  on  the  Home  Mission  Fields  of 
Southern    Indiana. 


knew  men  of  note  in  church  and  state,  and  abounded  in  pleasing  anecdotes,  but 
never  in  "foolish  talking  or  jesting."  He  was  a  charming  companion.  It  was 
no  wonder  that  children  and  young  people  were  glad  in  his  company.  Indeed,  in 
his  ordinary  life  the  Christian  religion  was  very  attractive.  One  who  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  his  habits  said  that  "for  thirty-five  years,  chiefly  in  his  Home  Mis- 
sion work,  he  had  preached  on  an  average  about  once  a  day — nearly  thirteen  thou- 
sand times!  helping  pastors  and  missionaries  in  their  protracted  revival  meetings,  and 
sometimes  spending  a  week  to  wake  up  a  congregation  and  secure  a  minister." 
One  of  his  noblest  speeches  was  in  the  Synod  of  Indiana.  North.  It  was  called 
out  by  the  theory  of  some,  that  the  diminishing  number  of  ministerial  candidates 
is  caused   by   the   hardships   of   ministers   in   the    field.    He   spoke   of    the    ministry 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  14  7 

and  its  trials,  and  also  of  its  joys.  He  spoke  of  his  own  work  in  a  tone  of  grand 
exultation.  It  seemed  as  if  his  imagination  had  recalled  the  joy  he  had  experienced, 
as  "a  preacher  of  the  Word,"  since  the  time  when,  the  winter  before  he  left 
the  farm,  he  had  seen  his  school  district  swept  with  revival  influences.  He  seemed 
to  recall  the  revival  of  his  senior  year  in  college,  when  Chief  Justice  Chase,  and 
Dr.  Allen,  of  Lane,  were  converted,  and  the  glorious  revival  of  his  Oxford  past- 
orate, Then  the  painful  and  weary  journeys,  the  countless  meetings  he  had  at- 
tended in  the  woods,  barns,  school-houses,  and  churches,  all  seemed  rather  sug- 
gested than  spoken.  These  years  had  been  full  of  hard  toil  and  also  rich  fruit. 
Besides  this,  his  home  had  been  full  of  joy.  All  his  children  were  Christians,  and 
his  four  sons  were  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  actual  work.  As  this  aged  and 
honored  servant  of  God  spoke,  he  stood  erect  as  if  in  conscious  strength,  and 
his  face  glowed,  and  his  voice  rang  out  clear  as  a  young  man's  as  he  exclaimed, 
"Let  no  man  waste  any  sympathy  on  me,  an  unworthy  preacher,  but  a  very 
happy  one  in  his  work,  and  in  the  sons  whom  Christ  has  counted  worthy  also 
to  be  ministers  of  the  Word!" 

For  several  months  previous  to  his  death  Dr.  Little  suffered  from  a  cancer 
in  the  face.  Two  vain  attempts  were  made  to  remove  it.  The  Synods  of  Indiana 
both  passed  resolutions  of  sympathy,  and  asked  that  he  be  continued  in  his  posi- 
tion under  the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  emeritus.  On  the  evening  of  September 
19th,  1881,  his  golden  wedding  was  celebrated  by  a  service  in  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Madison.  It  was  followed  by  a  banquet  prepared  by  the  ladies 
of  the  church.  The  venerable  couple  was  the  center  of  attraction.  It  was  an  af- 
fecting sight,  not  be  forgotten.  The  next  day  the  Presbytery  of  New  Albany 
held  a  special  service  and  not  only  said  beautiful  words  to  "our  Patriarch,"  but 
placed  in  his  hands  $1,600  in  gold,  sent  from  friends  in  all  parts  of  the  mission- 
ary field  in  which  he  had  wrought. 

The  last  sickness  of  Dr.  Little  was  a  trying  one,  but  it  displayed  his  faith 
in  Christ  and  hope  of  heaven  in  a  very  striking  manner.  With  speech  impared, 
and  his  "countenance  marred"  by  the  disease,  laid  aside  from  the  work  he  loved, 
and  with  time  to  think  over  the  past,  and  to  review  the  evidences  of  his  hope, 
he  had  "a  death-bed  experience"  that  was  almost  without  a  cloud,  and  a  hope 
of  eternal  life  that  was  full  of  joy  and  confidence.  His  son,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Little,  of  Adrian,  wrote  these  words,  which  may  fitly  close  this  article:  "As  I 
think  back,  father's  chief  characteristic  was  cheery  faith;  after  that,  relish  for 
work,  charitableness,  patience,  and  the  unvarying  'hope  of  glory.'  No  one  has 
heard  him  groan  through  all  this  pain.  He  said  of  the  8th  of  Romans.  17th  and 
18th  verses,  'If  I  walk  in  the  Spirit,  I  am  a  son  of  God — don't  you  see?  and 
1  don't  put  much  stress  on  suffering  with  Him  here,  for  the  sufferings  of  this 
present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory.  But  I  shall  know 
enough  soon  to  enjoy  what  He  does,  and  to  own  it  too — don't  you  see?'  So 
he   'roamed   toward   heaven,'   praising   God   for   everything   all   the   way." 


CHAPTER   XXX 


tit  %\m?xt%%h  IB^ntrxr   'LtWit 


^|  1^  HEN   QUITE   a   boy,    sometime   in    the   thirties,    I    first   met   Mr.    Little. 

/         I       I  think  it  was  at  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  held  at  the  old  Pisgah 

t  17         (now   New   Washington)    Church,    of    which    my    father    was   pastor. 

His     social,     pleasant    manner,     and     earnest,     eloquent     sermons     and 

addresses,   gave  him  a   warm  place  in   the  affections  of  the  people,   and  he  was  at 

once  a   favorite.      "Not   a   bit   stuck   up."      "He   is   not   like   many   Yankees;    you 

are    acquainted    with    him    at    once,    and    oh,    how    interesting    his    talks    are!"       "I 

don't  care  how  often  it  comes  his  time  to  preach,   I  could  listen  to  him  all   day," 

are  samples  of  the  expressions  concerning  him  by  people  who  saw  and  heard  him 

for  the  first  time. 

Meetings  of  Presbyteries  and  Synods  in  those  early  days  were  feasts  of  fat 
things  to  the  people.  They  came  from  far  and  near;  the  world  did  not  drive  them 
as  it  does  now,  at  railroad  speed,  and  ministers  and  people  did  not  think  of  leav- 
ing until  the  close  of  the  session  which  usually  lasted  about  a  week.  Besides  the 
ordinary  business,  two  and  sometimes  three  sermons  per  day  were  delivered,  and 
seasons  of  great  spiritual  comfort  and  blessing  were  enjoyed.  Ministers  were  ex- 
pected to  deliver  their  best  sermons,  and  each  in  turn  was  given  an  opportunity. 
Preparations  for  entertaining  all  who  came  were  made  before  hand,  and  great 
opportunities  for  social  and  religious  influence  were  afforded  to  preachers  as  well 
as    laymen. 

Throughout  his  long  and  useful  life  Mr.  Little's  company  was  sought  and 
enjoyed.  "He  is  never  in  the  way,  and  how  comforting  and  instructive  his  talks." 
His  fame  as  a  preacher  spread  through  all  the  country  and  many  rode  long 
distances  to  hear  him.  His  style  of  preaching  was  conversational  and  Biblical. 
One  lady  who  had  heard  much  of  his  ability  as  a  preacher  expressed  a  strong 
desire  to  hear  him.  After  an  opportunity  to  listen  to  several  of  his  sermons,  she 
said  in  reference  to  him:  "He  doesn't  preach  at  all;  he  only  talks.  But  he  is 
the  best  talker  I  ever  heard.  How  instructive,  how  interesting;  I  never  tire 
hearing  him." 

He  was  in  the  same  class  in  college  with  Chief  Justice  Chase,  and,  as  I  have 
heard  some  of  their  classmates  say,  "outranked  that  noted  statesman  and  judge 
in  scholarship."  He  was  at  home  wherever  he  was  called  to  act.  even  if  to 
examine  candidates  for  the  ministry  in  Hebrew  or  Greek  or  Latin,  in  theology, 
ecclesiastical  history,  or  church  polity.  He  never  made  long  speeches  in  the  Pres- 
bytery or  the  Synod,  but  was  so  clear  and  pointed  that  usually  little  was  left 
to  be  said,   and  he  usually   carried  his  cause. 

Presbyterian  ministers  did  much  to  secure  the  establishment  of  our  system 
of  free  schools  in  Indiana,  and  Mr.  Little  was  not  a  whit  behind  any  of  them 
in    his    efforts    and    influence.    Wherever    he    went    somehow    the    way    opened    for 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  149 

one  of  his  telling  speeches  in  favor  of  universal  education.  For  a  special  sermon 
on  almost  any  subject  he  was  ready.  He  seemed  rather  to  seek  to  have  others 
deliver  these  special  sermons  and  addresses,  to  call  them  out  and  help  them  to 
attain  a  standing,  but  whenever  a  duty  was  assigned  him  he  never  sought  to 
be  excused  or  failed. 

Called  once,  with  others,  to  address  a  large  company  at  an  agricultural 
fair,  he  so  eclipsed  other  speakers  for  his  knowledge  and  common  sense  that 
the  farmers  at  once  accorded  to  him   the  first  place  as  interesting   and   useful. 

Mr.  Little  was  a  money  gatherer,  considering  the  times  in  which  he  lived, 
a  wonderful  collector.  Others  have  noticed  his  gathering  of  thousands  for  literary 
and  theological  institutions.  In  all  this  work  of  money- gathering  he  never  forgot 
his  life  work.  I  have  often  heard  him  from  the  pulpit  present  benevolent  causes, 
but  never  except   as   adjuncts   of   the   Gospel. 

When  I  was  a  student  at  Lane  Seminary  he  came,  as  was  the  custom  with 
agents  in  those  days,  to  present  the  cause  of  Home  Missions  and  take  the  collec- 
tions from  the  seminary  church.  Just  before  the  time  for  service  he  came  to  my 
room  and  asked  for  a  concordance  and  a  scrap  of  paper,  saying,  "I  made  a  new 
sermon  as  I  came  up  on  the  boat  last  night,  and  I  want  to  mark  a  few  texts 
to  use  and  a  head  or  two."  He  looked  up  his  scriptures  and  wrote,  talking  all 
the  while  in  an  animated  way  on  entirely  different  subjects.  I  remember  thinking, 
"If  you  set  all  those  texts  down  correctly,  I  will  give  you  credit  for  ability  to 
talk  incessantly  and  earnestly  on  one  subject  and  write  correctly  on  another." 
As  he  delivered  his  sermon  I  watched  to  see  how  this  would  be.  I  had  often  heard 
him  preach,  but  never  saw  him  at  a  loss  for  a  word.  And  but  for  my  marking 
the  writing  as  I  did,  perhaps  should  not  have  noticed  any  hesitation  at  this  time; 
but  when  he  came  to  turn  to  two  or  three  of  the  noted  passages  they  were  not 
what  he  supposed.  Hesitating  but  for  a  moment,  he  gave  the  sense  of  the  scrip- 
tures he  wanted   and   went   on. 

He  preached  a  capital  sermon,  which  so  aroused  Dr.  Beecher  that  he  arose 
in  his  pew  and  stood,  manifesting  the  deepest  interest,  and  as  soon  as  Dr.  Little 
ended  his  sermon,  broke  out  in  one  of  his  impassioned  eloquent  exhortations. 
Dr.  Allen,  who  was  in  charge  of  that  collection,  called  to  me  to  gather  the  money 
in  the  choir  galley.  This  I  did,  and  at  the  close  of  the  service  carried  it  to  the 
table  where  it  was  counted,  and  the  announcement  made  that  it  was  the  largest 
sum   that   congregation   had   ever   given. 

"I  am  glad  of  that,"  said  Dr.  Little,  "for  I  felt  that  I  had  not  preached  as 
well  as  I  ought."  "Don't  feel  that  way;  you  preached  Paul,  and  he  can  beat 
any  of  us,"   said  Dr.   Beecher. 

Mr.  Little  would  take  anything  valuable  offered  him  for  his  cause.  He  once 
presented  the  cause  of  Home  Missions  to  my  father's  congregation.  Monday  morn- 
ing a  doctor  said  to  him:  "Brother  Little,  I  did  not  have  much  money  to  give 
you  yesterday,  but  if  you  can  use  her  I  will  give  you  a  good  cow  and  send  a  boy 
to  help  drive  her  to  your  city."  "Thank  you;  I'll  take  her,"  and  in  a  few  hours 
she  had  been  driven  eighteen  miles  and  was  safely  housed  in  his  stable,  and 
the   Home  Mission   cause  the  price  of  her  benefitted. 

Dr.  Stowe,  of  Lane  Seminary,  said  to  him:  "Brother  Little,  if  you  know 
a  good  minister  to  whom  to  give  my  horse,  you  may  take  him  along."  "I  know 
the   very   man,"    and   he   gave   the   horse   to    Rev.    Thomas    S.    Milligan,    who    rode 


150  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

him  largely  for  years  over  Indiana,   where  he  preached,   and  wisely  laid  foundations 
and    fortified    Home   Mission    churches. 

For  a  time  Mr.  Little's  field  included  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  and  perhaps 
other  States.  Rev.  Win,  Dickey,  a  cousin  of  my  father,  was  pastor  of  one  of  the 
large  churches  in  Ohio.  He  had  always  been  a  friend  of  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  after  the  division  of  the  church  in  183 7-' 3 8,  though  he 
remained  in  his  Presbytery  with  the  Old  School,  he  invited  the  agents  of  the 
American  Home  Mission  Society  and  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions  to  take  collection  from  his  people.  Mr.  Little  had  often 
been  with  the  people  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  and  agent  for  the  benevolent 
work.  Mr.  Dickey's  church  also  gave  to  the  Assembly  Boards  of  the  Old  School. 

One  year  Rev.  Dr.  Scovel,  once  President  of  Hanover  College,  as  agent 
of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  (Old  School)  and  Mr.  Little  as  agent  of  the 
Home  Missions  (New  School),  met  at  Mr.  Dickey's  church.  Dr.  Scovel  was 
first  present  on  the  ground,  and  on  Saturday,  when  Mr.  Little  walked  into  Mr. 
Dickey's  house  the  pastor  gave  him  cordial  greeting,  but  said:  "First  come 
first  served.'  Dr.  Scovel  is  ahead  of  you  and  you  will  have  to  take  the  after- 
noon. This  is  the  best  we  can  do,  as  you  are  both  here  for  a  like  purpose." 
"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Little,  nothing  ruffled.  (Who  ever  saw  him  show- 
ing a  bad  temper?)  "But  your  horse,  I  will  have  him  cared  for,"  said  Mr. 
Dickey.  "I  have  no  horse,  I  walked  from ,  where  the  stage  stopped,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Little.  "You  have  saddlebags  and  I  supposed  you  had  a  horse,"  said 
Mr.  Dickey.  "Oh,  I  have  come  for  a  horse.  You  know  your  people  are  accus- 
tomed to  give  me  one."  "I  fear  you  will  be  disappointed  this  time.  I  know  of 
no  prospect   for  a  horse  this   year." 

Sabbath  morning  Dr.  Scovel.  noted  as  a  successful  solicitor  for  benevolent 
causes,  forcibly  presented  his  cause  in  a  good,  long  discourse,  and  received  $75, 
in  those  days  counted  a  good  contribution. 

In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Little  preached  one  of  his  clear,  earnest  Gospel  sermons, 
and  in  a  few  minutes,  at  the  close,  presented  the  cause  of  Home  Missions  for 
the  Society  he  represented,  when  the  contributions  were  counted,  the  sum  was 
the   same   of   the   morning   contribution,    $75. 

Mr.  Dickey  told  some  of  his  people  the  story  of  the  saddle-bags,  and  of 
Mr.  Little  saying  he  had  come  for  a  horse.  They  consulted  together  and  bought 
a  young  horse  from  one  of  the  members,  who  threw  in  his  full  share  of  the 
price  and  gave  him  to  Mr.  Little.  After  the  sermon  and  collection,  Mr.  Little 
went  home  with  one  of  the  well-to-do  families  in  the  country,  that  he  might 
in  the  morning  see  a  man  who  always  gave  to  the  cause,  but  was  not  present 
in  the  afternoon. 

The  sermon  had  made  a  deep  impression,  and  as  he  rode  in  the  carriage 
with  those  who  were  to  entertain  him,  the  gentleman  addressed  his  wife,  saying, 
'  What  do  you  say  to  us  giving  John  to  the  home  missionary  cause?"  John 
was  the  best  horse  he  had,  then  with  another  drawing  the  carriage,  a  favorite 
with  his  wife.  To  his  surprise  she  at  once  assented,  and  in  the  morning  John 
was  ready  for  some  home  missionary  to   ride. 

Bright  and  early  Mr.  Little  was  at  the  house  of  the  one  absent  from  church 
the  day  before.  The  man  was  looking  after  his  sheep  in  the  pasture  near  the 
house.  He  could  give  a  good  reason  for  his  absence  from  the  house  of  God.   They 


THE  OLD  MT.  TABOR  CAMP  MEETING  151 

began  to  talk  of  sheep,  and  the  farmer  soon  found  that  the  preacher,  who  had 
been  trained  in  early  life  on  a  farm,  knew  more  about  sheep  and  the  good  points 
about  a  horse.  They  went  to  the  pasture.  There  they  found  fifteen  or  twenty 
horses.  "Now  I  want  you  to  pick  out  the  best  horse  in  that  lot."  After  a  few 
minutes'  close  examination,  he  pointed  out  the  one  he  considered  and  was  pro- 
ceeding to  give  reasons  for  his  choice  when  the  man  stopped  him,  saying:  "You 
pre  a  good  judge;  he  is  the  best  of  the  lot.  I  can't  preach  the  Gospel,  but  if 
you  can  make  that  horse  help  to  do  it,  take  him  along."  So  Mr.  Little  went 
home  with  $75   in  his  pocket  and  three  horses  for  home  missionaries. 

This  story  I  often  heard  in  the  home  of  my  father,  who  was  a  close  friend 
of  his  cousin,  and  I  suppose  learned  the  facts  from  his  relative.  I  never  heard 
of  Mr.  Little  speaking  of  it;  he  was  never  a  man  to  blaze  abroad  his  own  acts. 
He  was  a  great  and  good  man.   but  modest  with  all   and  unassuming. 

In  my  early  ministry  he  preached  often  for  me  in  protracted  meetings,  for 
weeks  at  a  time,  and  solved  for  me  and  others  knotty  points  in  theology  as 
no  other  man  ever  did.  The  lessons  I  got  from  him  in  practical  church  matters 
have  been  of  priceless  value.  Especially  did  I  prize  his  instructions  to  inquirers 
anxious  to  be  saved.  In  one  of  the  last  series  of  meetings  in  which  I  had  his  help 
for  ten  or  twelve  days  when  many  turned  unto  the  Lord,  I  said  to  him : 
"Brother  Little,  I  want  to  thank  you  for  the  many  kind  acts  you  have  done, 
and  especially  for  your  teaching  me  how  to  work.  I  owe  much  to  Drs.  Lyman 
Beecher,  Calvin  E.  Stowe  and  D.  Howe  Allen,  my  teachers  in  the  theological 
seminary,  but  I  feel  that  in  real  work  for  my  Christ  and  trust  in  Him,  I  have 
learned  more  from  you  than  from  them  all." 

Speaking  thus  from  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  having  just  closed  a  meet- 
ing where  hearts  were  melted  and  souls  found  the  new  life,  and  knowing  his 
characteristic  modesty,  I  feared  he  might  think  me  a  flatterer  and  be  mortified, 
but  I  was  glad  to  find  he  believed  me  sincere  and  received  my  words  as  a  mark 
of  regard. 

Some  would  not  class  Dr.  Little  with  the  great  preachers  of  the  land,  but 
if  success  in  turning  men  to  God,  and  in  building  up  the  church  is  a  mark  of 
greatness,   he  had   few   equals   in   his   day. 


JOHN  VAWTER 


CHAPTER   XXXI 


^lagiani  ^ft^^htm  &t  ©ife  ^irmitt  '^mwm 


f^  F  national  history  is  often  local  history  enacted  and  written  large, 
fm  V-l  then  state  history  is  often  family  history  truly  or  worthily  lived 
^^    J         and   written. 

Especially  is  this  true  of  a  great  and  classic  book  of  local 
history  in  Southern  Indiana,  "The  History  of  the  Vawter  Family,"  by  Mrs. 
Grace  Vawter  Bicknell,  a  highly  cultured  and  distinguished  descendant  of  the 
Vawter  family,  and  the  wife  of  the  famous  first  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  State 
Charities  of  Indiana  and  National  Director  of  the  American  Red  Cross  for  many 
years.  The  book  is  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Bicknell's  father,  Archilles 
Vawter,  whose  wisdom  and  gentleness  were  ever  a  source  of  comfort  and  strength 
to  the  devoted  daughter.  This  good  man  had  some  old  faded  and  tattered  family 
records  in  his  possession,  which  he  had  received  from  his  father.  In  looking  over 
these  the  idea  came  to  the  daughter  to  amplify  and  preserve  them  in  a  way  be- 
fitting the  subject.  So  she  spent  five  years  in  correspondence  with  the  various 
branches  of  the  Vawter  family,  visited  the  venerable  and  still  surviving  members 
of  the  Vawter  connection  and  searched  national  and  state  archives  for  reliable 
data  until  she  had  assembled  material  sufficient  for  a  volume  of  over  400  pages. 
The  book  was  published  in  1905,  just  twenty-two  years  ago,  and  the  edition  was 
speedily  exhausted,  for  there  is  not  a  single  copy  to  be  had  at  any  price  today, 
and  there  are  only  two  copies  in  Jennings  county  Indiana,  the  ancient  seat  and 
settlement  of  the  Vawters  after  their  migration  from  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
a  century  ago.  This  lack  of  copies  is  a  calamity  pure  and  simple,  for  in  the 
pages  of  this  book  is  the  very  earliest  history  of  Madison,  Old  Vernon,  and 
all  the  classic  Hoosier  School  Master  region  round  about.  We  had  to  wait  near- 
ly a  year  before  we  were  privileged  to  see  the  book  ourselves — one  of  the  two 
copies  in  Jennings  county,  possessed  by  Mrs.  Kate  Storey  Dixon,  wife  of  Hon. 
Lincoln  Dixon,  of  North  Vernon.  Families  like  the  Dixons  are  the  very  Flower 
and  Fruit  of  the  Family  Tree  at  its  best,  according  to  the  latest  scientific  volume 
of  Albert  Edward  Wiggam,  noted  social  writer  of  Vernon,  Indiana,  and  New 
York  City. 

THE   VAWTER  PIONEERS 

Mrs.  Bicknell  discusses  the  evolution  of  the  family  name  of  Vawter  from 
French  sources,  Vautier  and  Valletort,  by  way  of  England  in  the  time  of  Henry 
the  First.  The  name  is  changed  about  1100  and  finally  was  simplified  to 
Vaulter  and  Vawter  about  1685.  when  three  brothers,  John.  Bartholomew 
and  Angus  came  from  Plymouth,  as  is  supposed,  to  Virginia.  Mrs.  Bicknell 
gives  the  names  of   the   known   descendants  of   this   first   John    Vawter,    who    was 


154 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


the  progenitor  of  the  Indiana  Vawters.  The  family  story  is  of  equal  interest 
and  importance  in  Oldham  and  Trimble  counties,  Kentucky,  because  the  early 
Baptist  ministers  of  this  family  planted  homes  and  churches  along  the  Ohio 
Valley  above  us  and  were  identified  with  the  earliest  tides  of  emigration  that 
flowed  around  Harrodsburg,  Lexington,  Frankfort,  and  down  here  in  our  own 
ancient  settlement  of  Brownsboro.  There  are  scores  and  hundreds  of  this  same 
family  name  and  descent  scattered  all  over  Kentucky  and  surrounding  states, 
not  to  mention  the  far  West,  which  fact  proves  their  progressive  spirit  and  enter- 
prise. Smith  William  Storey,  son  of  Thomas  J.  and  Jane  Vawter  Storey,  of 
Vernon,  Indiana,  father  of  Mrs.  Lincoln  Dixon,  "while  a  mere  youth,  made 
the    overland    trip    to    the    Pacific,    driving    an    ox    wagon,    and    for    several    years 


OLD    VERNON    BAPTIST    CHURCH 
Founded    by    John    Vawter    in    1S16. 


endured  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  a  frontiersman  and  miner  in  California 
and  Oregon.  Returning  to  Vernon,  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business,  in  which 
he  continued  until  his  death.  Smith  William  Storey  was  an  elder  in  the  Vernon 
Presbyterian  Church:  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School  for  twenty-five 
vears;  was  an  organizer  and  promoter  of  the  first  bank  in  Vernon:  was  a 
director  and  from  1895  until  his  death  was  President  of  the  First  National  Bank." 


REVEREND    JESSE    VAWTER 

It  was  desired  to  work  the  Vawter  family  story  into  a  Centennial  Pageant 
of  Old  Vernon  Town.  Jesse  Vawter,  the  progenitor  of  the  family  in  Kentucky 
and  Southern  Indiana,  was  born  in  Virginia.  December  1,  1755,  christened 
in  the  Episcopal  Church  as  an  infant  and  brought  up  a  mechanic.  He  learned 
coopering,   wood  carpentering   and  joining   and   was   also   a    millwright.    He   attend- 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


155 


ed  school  in  childhood  and  spent  ten  years  in  farming.  He  served  a  while  in  the 
Revolutionary  struggle  and  passed  back  and  forth  as  a  pioneer  in  Southwestern 
Virginia  and  Kentucky.  He  is  pictured  as  a  quiet,  thrifty,  brown-eyed,  peace- 
loving  man.  His  own  granddaughter  says  he  was  of  a  gentle  nature,  that  every- 
body loved  him,  that  the  children  ran  to  meet  and  kiss  him  when  he  came  up 
from  Madison  to  Vernon  to  visit  the  family.  He  had  lost  an  eye,  and  the  children 
would  slip  up  on  his  blind  side  and  kiss  him,  and  he  would  jump  up  as  though 
surprised,  for  he  had  great  patience  and  good  humor  with  children.  He  was  a 
pioneer  Baptist  preacher,  rode  horseback  everywhere,  and  was  the  great  peace- 
maker of  his  denomination.  Perhaps  the  most  significant  impersonation  of  him 
in  a  pageant  would  be  as  a  pioneer  man  of  God.  His  wife,  Elizabeth,  would 
make  an  amusing  contrast,  for  she  was  an  outstanding  character,  who  overawed 
the    grandchildren.    She    was    a    brisk    and    precise    housekeeper,    chasing    flies    out 


Rev.  Beverly  Vawter,  (1789-1872)  cousin  of  John  Vawter 
and  founder  of  the  Vernon  Christian  Church.  A  strong 
and  original  character  and  contemporary  pastor  with  John 
Finley  Crowe. 


of  her  house  and  down  to  the  Ohio  River.  She  scrubbed  even  the  stumps  in 
her  dooryard,  people  said.  She  was  an  intrepid  companion  of  her  husband  across 
the  mountains  to  Kentucky,  and  was  the  mother  of  this  unusual  family.  The 
one  typical  scene  in  their  migration  would  be  a  campfire  in  the  woods  and  the 
fireside  at  home  in  the  cabin.  Fire  was  a  typical,  characteristic  word  to  them. 
Jesse  Vawter  was  converted  sometime  after  he  heard  a  sermon  on  the  text  from 
Isaiah,  "Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  devouring  fire;  who  among  us  shall 
dwell  with  everlasting  burnings?"  He  sought  peace  a  good  while  before  he 
found  it,  but  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  by  day  and  the  Pillar  of  Fire  by  night  guided 
him  and  his  family  in  their  pioneer  pilgrimages  as  surely  as  they  did  Israel  of 
old.  Fire  was  not  only  symbolic  of  punishment  but  of  purification;  and  the 
most  impressive  scene  on  their  migration  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Jesse  Vawter's  son  John,  who  was  a  lad  of  eight  years  when  they 
crossed  the  mountains  in   1790: 


156  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

"We  waited  at  Bean's  Station  for  additional  immigrants  to  meet  and  in- 
crease the  safety  of  the  company  in  their  march  through  the  wilderness.  They 
did  not  come.  While  at  the  station  we  were  greatly  alarmed  one  night  by  some 
cow-drivers  throwing  a  bundle  of  cane  on  the  fire.  It  made  a  great  noise  while 
burning.  We  decided  to  move  on,  though  few  in  number.  I  remember  that  a 
raven  for  several  days  advanced  ahead  of  us,  alighting  on  the  trees  and  keeping 
up  a  continual  squawking.  *  *  *  I  remember  well  seeing  bones  of  individuals 
who  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians  and  their  bodies  buried  so  close  to  the 
surface  that  the  wolves  had  dragged  them  out  of  the  Indian  blinds,  behind 
which  they  concealed  themselves.  These  were  made  of  bushes  stuck  in  the  ground. 
At  the  time  we  saw  them  the  bushes  were  dry." 

JOHN   VAWTER   OF   VERNON 

Coming  now  to  the  life  story  of  John  Vawter,  we  could  picture  him  in  the 
primitive  backwoods  school,  with  the  run  and  frolic  of  locking  out  the  teacher 
and  also  getting  a  whipping,  undeserved,  for  being  accused  of  cutting  off  the 
tails  of  the  teacher's  pigs.  He  determined  to  whip  the  teacher  in  revenge  when 
grown  up;  but  John  gave  up  the  idea  as  he  got  older.  He  was  also  a  primitive 
mill-boy,  like  Henry  Clay,  and  had  more  than  one  severe  fall  from  a  horse 
enroute  over  the  rocky  roads.  Jesse  Vawter  and  six  or  eight  other  Kentuckians 
from  Franklin  and  Scott  Counties  migrated  to  Port  William,  or  Carrolton,  on 
the  Ohio,  and  in  a  pirogue  floated  down  to  the  site  of  Madison,  opposite  Mil- 
ton, at  the  very  beginning  of  the  last  century.  The  pirogue  carried  their  pro- 
vision and  the  horses  swam  the  river  at  the  side.  They  camped  in  the  woods 
at  the  upper  end  of  Madison,  and  by  day  divided  into  companies  and  explored 
up  and  down  and  around  Hanover,  Clifty  Falls  and  other  points  so  familiar 
now   to   the  tourist   of   our   time. 

PAGEANT    SCENES    OF   INDIAN    DAYS 

In  the  First  Day  Scene  of  the  settlement  of  Old  Vernon,  we  would  picture 
John  Vawter  there  in  1813,  with  rifle  on  shoulder,  strikingly  like  Daniel 
Boone  as  an  explorer.  He  stands  in  contemplation  of  the  beautiful  woods  and 
hills  and  winding  Muscatatuck  River.  Sensitive  to  Nature's  loveliness,  he  deter- 
mined  to   make  this   his   future  home. 

The  First  Night  Scene  would  be  a  background  of  green  boughs.  John 
Vawter  is  by  a  campfire  on  an  island,  heavily  wooded  with  great  timber,  just 
south  of  Vernon.  He  went  to  the  island  at  night  as  a  precaution  against  Indians 
and  wolves.  He  is  toasting  his  bacon  by  the  campfire.  The  savory  odor  draws 
wolves  from  the  forest.  He  eats  supper  with  rifle  at  his  feet,  looking  around 
cautiously  the  while.  Perhaps  he  has  more  fear  of  wolves  than  of  Indians 
because  the  wolves  were  at  hand  howling  hungrily.  So  he  kindles  a  circle  of 
flame  around  him  and  lies  down  to  rest.  This  seems  to  have  been  while  building 
the   solitary    cabin    on    the   site    of    Vernon    before    his    family    came. 

The  Second  Day  Scene  of  the  Vernon  settlement  pictures  John  Vawter 
with  surveying  instruments  leaving  home  for  his  work  as  U.  S.  Surveyor  in 
the  woods.  He  perhaps  had  companions  staying  with  him  in  the  cabin  who 
assisted    in    the    surveying.     "He    planted    the    town    in     1815     and    moved    there 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


157 


the  same  year,"  says  the  historian.  "At  this  time  there  was  but  one  white  family 
in  Jennings  county.  In  this  wilderness  Col.  Vawter  left  his  young  wife  and 
little  children  while  he  went  upon  his  surveying  tours,  giving  them  strict  in- 
structions that  no  Indians  be  allowed  to  enter  the  house  or  get  any  liquor. 

"One  day.  soon  after  Col.  Vawter  left  home,  two  Indians  came  to  the 
door,  and,  pushing  in  without  leave,  demanded  firewater.  Mrs.  Vawter  told 
them  she  had  none  for  them,  and  to  appease  their  anger  brought  out  some 
ribbon.  They  were  delighted  with  the  gift  of  a  yard  or  two  apiece  of  orange 
colored  ribbon.  Smith  Vawter,  the  small  son  of  Col.  Vawter,  was  sitting  in 
the  chimney  corner  watching  the  savages  with  absorbing  interest,  when  one  of 
them  suddenly  sprang  to  his  feet,  with  a  blood-curdling  war-whoop  and  swing- 
ing his  tomahawk  high  in  the  air,  stood  with  it  poised  over  the  boy's  head  for 
what  seemed  an  age  to  the  boy,  who  thought  his  time  had  come,  but  who  looked 
the  savage  calmly  in  the  eye.  The  Indian  dropped  the  tomahawk  and  sat 
down,    saying   that   he   was   a   brave   boy    and    would    make    a    heap    good    Indian. 


.   *~Z,  ""Vs>    '  -ijjjjSf 

v«yfe  ■/'   * 

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sitfe  '^  ?"■  <^9H 

P^wl>£ 

Wm 

P^  1  2 

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1 

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"m^w^'"™*** 

v,..,.vS»<~">9i  .<«•  «ora*K-> 

» 

OLD    VERNON    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH 
Founded    by   Rev.    Beverley    Vawter. 


The  Indians  then  ransacked  the  cabin  for  liquor  and,  finding  a  treasured  bottle 
of  peach  brandy,  each  took  a  drink,  and  generously  leaving  the  bottle,  departed." 
The  Third  Day  Scene  would  represent  the  Indian  Chief  who  controlled 
the  entire  region  around  Madison  and  Vernon.  Says  the  historian:  "This  country 
belonged  to  old  Captain  White  Eyes  and  his  breed.  White  Eyes  pretended  to 
be  a  big  chief  and  friendly  to  the  whites,  but  there  was  no  dependence  in  him. 
He  was  a  bold-looking  jockey,  rather  sassy,  about  thirty  years  old  and  not  short 
of  six  feet  in  height.  He  wore  the  Indian  garb — breech  clout,  leggings  and 
moccasins,  with  a  blanket  thrown  over  his  shoulders.  His  leggings  were  of  dark 
blue  or  black  woolen  cloth;  they  knew  what  was  good  and  wouldn't  buy  it 
if  it  wasn't.  His  hair  was  long  and  black  and  had  buzzard's  quills  stuck  around 
in  it.  He  always  carried  a  gun  and  a  tomahawk.  His  tomahawk  was  made  with 
a  pipe  in  the  pole.  He  was  the  biggest  Indian  in  his  tribe,  the  Pottawattomies. 
The  tribe  came  from  out  on  the  Wabash.  There  were  well  on  to  a  hundred 
with  White  Eyes." 


15; 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


Indian  habits  are  thus  described:  The  camp  was  on  a  little  knoll.  All  about 
it  the  bark  was  pulled  off  the  trees  and  set  on  end  for  shelter.  Trees  were 
peeled  as  high  as  they  could  reach  for  a  good  bit  around,  as  they  had  about 
fifteen  wigwams.  Indians  wouldn't  go  into  a  house  and  sit  down  in  a  chair 
to  eat  from  a  table — they  would  get  down  on  their  knees  around  the  table 
and  take  things  off  the  plates  with  their  hands.  They  mostly  ate  meat."  The 
red  men  are  then  pictured  as  eating  off  one  end  of  a  meat  chunk  with  the  dogs 
gnawing  at  the  other.  Indians  thought  highly  of  their  dogs.  It  is  a  peculiar 
fact  that  John  Vawter  had  a  positive  antipathy  towards  dogs  and  tobacco, 
which  may  have  originated  in  the  repulsive  sights  and  incidents  he  witnessed 
among  the  red  men.  An  amusing  word  about  this  is  given  by  the  Vawter 
historian: 

"Col.  Vawter  was  very  particular  about  his  person.  He  had  a  clean  shave 
every  morning  and  bathed  his  feet  every  night  before  going  to  bed.   Chief   among 


Old  Vernon  Methodist  Church,  organized  in  1S17  at  the 
Prather  Home  on  the  Hinchman  Farm  of  later  years. 
Camp  meeting's  were  held  there.  The  Prathers  came  from 
Cbarlestown.  The  earliest  pastors  on  record  were  Henry 
Buell  (1827),  J.  T.  Johnson  (1828),  John  Kearns  (1S29). 
Isaac  Elshury  (1831),  Joshua  Law  (1833),  T.  Gunn  (1834), 
W.  W.  Hibben  (1832).  Geo.  K.  Hester  (1836,  Miles  Huf- 
faker  (1837),  Coustaub  B.  Jones  (1838).  This  church  has 
many  noble  traditions  of  outstanding-  families  in  Vernon 
history. 


the  peculiarities  of  Col.  Vawter  was  an  intense  antipathy  to  dogs  and  to 
tobacco.  If  a  friend  called  at  his  home,  who  had  unfortunately  allowed  his  dog 
to  follow  him,  he  was  left  standing  at  the  door  with  outstretched  hand  while 
his  host  gave  chase  to  the  dog  and  securely  fastened  it  without  the  gate.  He 
sometimes  descended  from  the  lofty  pulpit  of  the  old  Baptist  church,  in  the 
midst  of  his  sermon,  in  pursuit  of  an  unlucky  canine  that  had  chanced  to  wander 
in.  He  would  chase  it  around  and  out  of  the  door,  then  would  mount  the  steps 
and  go  on  preaching  as  if  that  were  part  of  the  program. 

"At  the  Baptist  Association  once  in  Vernon  Col.  Vawter,  who  was  very 
hospitable,  said:  'Now  I  have  a  new  house  out  here,  and  I  want  you  all  to  come 
to  my  house  for  dinner.  I  will  entertain  you  every  one  and  you  are  welcome: 
but   I   don't    want  any   one  to   bring   dogs  or   to  spit   on   my   clean    floors.' 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


3ttfei*ttt  Wtrsm  ®(  \%\%  Sitt&mm  l%$  CSHt** 


f^^^*  HERE    was    a    James    Burns    who    married    a    Mariah    Vawter.    He    was 
■    ■•%         born    in    Virginia    and    came    to    Kentucky    in    a    wagon    with    the 
%.!  J         pioneers    in    1794.    He    removed    to    Ohio    some    years    later   and    was 
"*  in    Fort    Washington    on    the    site    of    Cincinnati    when    only    a    few 

scattering  houses  stood  in  the  vicinity.  He  was  in  the  Ohio  militia  enrolled  to  fight 
off  the  red  men,  and  he  took  part  in  the  attempt  to  intercept  Aaron  Burr  on 
his  way  to  New  Orleans.  James  Burns  came  to  Madison,  Indiana,  in  1814  from 
Cincinnati  with  two  other  men  and  their  families  on  a  roofed-over  flat-boat 
one  hundred  feet  long.  It  took  three  days  to  make  the  trip.  Madison  was  as 
primitive  then  as  Cincinnati.  Burns  said  as  they  went  up  town  from  the  flat- 
boat  they  found  everybody  sitting  around  watching  for  Indians.  The  terror  of 
the  recent  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre  over  in  Scott  County,  Indiana,  above  where 
Underwood  now  stands,  was  still  upon  the  pioneers  like  a  spell.  Burns  and  his 
companions  took  their  guns  and  set  out  to  explore  the  country  to  the  north 
of  Madison  some  miles.  There  was  a  block  house  on  Clifty  Creek  and  one  on 
Harbert's  Creek,  near  the  present  little  village  of  Wirt.  The  people  at  the  Har- 
bert  Creek  blockhouse  took  them  for  Indians  and  closed  the  gates  on  them. 
It  took  a  lot  of  helloing  to  convince  the  fort  folks  that  they  were  friendly,  as 
they  were  eyed  suspiciously  even  when  they  entered.  William  Harbert,  the 
first  white  settler  in  this  region,  had  come  with  his  family  in  1811,  before 
the  War  of  1812  began;  and  even  as  late  as  1814,  when  this  man  Burns  moved 
out  to  Wirt  with  his  family,  the  whole  community  was  in  a  panic  of  fear  from 
the  red  men.   Says  he: 

"We  all  lived  in  the  block-house  and  were  in  continual  fear  of  the  Indians. 
Every  night  we  kept  guard,  and  Judge  Dunn  of  Hanover  passed  once  or  twice 
each  week  with  his  rangers.  The  Indians  came  in  sight  frequently,  threatening 
us.  Several  persons  that  had  wandered  off  in  the  woods  hunting  disappeared 
and  were  never  afterwards  heard  of,  no  doubt  having  been  murdered  or  carried 
away  by  the  Indians.  The  block-house  stood  about  fifteen  rods  east  of  my  late 
residence  at  Wirt.  *  *  *  *  The  block-house  was  a  square  inclosure  about  one- 
half  an  acre.  In  each  of  the  four  corners  were  log  houses  built  unusually  strong. 
The  upper  part  hung  over  on  the  outside  to  prevent  the  Indians  climbing  up 
on  the  roof,  and  all  the  sides  were  pierced  with  port  holes.  There  were  other 
houses  close  up  to  the  picket  walls,  which  served  to  strengthen  the  pickets. 
The  picket  was  a  fence  of  high,  heavy  posts  driven  in  the  ground  and  sharpened 
on  the  ends.  There  was  a  gate  on  the  north  side  of  the  fort  and  one  on  the 
east.  Inside  the  fort  was  a  hollow  square,  all  the  houses  being  close  up  to  the 
walls." 


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FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


The  block-house  was  built  for  the  safety  of  the  families  who  settled  in 
the  vicinity  of  Wirt,  so  that  they  could  come  together  for  united  defense  in 
case  of  Indian  attack.  A  fine  spring  of  water  was  close  at  hand.  Buckskin  breeches 
and  hunting  shirts  were  the  garb  of  the  men.  There  was  abundance  of  game  and 
the  entire  country  was  being  disputed  between  the  whites  and  Indians.  This 
was  the  region  ruled  over  by  Old  White  Eyes  and  his  red  men  followers.  They 
possessed  ponies  to  transport  their  stuff.  Old  White  Eyes  was  well  mounted. 
The  squaws  carried  the  corn  in  a  bucket  swung  over  their  backs,  with  the  ends 
supported  against  their  foreheads.  The  red  men  traded  when  there  was  not  open 
war  with  the  whites:  and  they  brought  jugs  for  liquor.  They  usually  got  well 
filled  before  they  left  the  white  settlements.      Old   White   Eyes   was  never  without 


John  Lattimore,  Born  March  1,  1778,  Died  September  11,  1859.  The  first 
pioneer  of  Old  Graham  Presbyterian  Church,  Jennings  County,  Indiana. 
Settled  upon  the  opposite  bank  of  Graham  Creek  in  1811.  One  of  the  first 
settlers  and  elders  in  the  old  church  there,  where  he  lived  and  died.  He  and 
his  family  came  from  the  Carolinas  when  the  Indians  were  still  hostile  about 
Madison.  Friendly  red  men  gave  him  warning-  one  time  to  remove  his 
family  to  the  block  house  in  Madison  and  escape  massacre.  His  wife. 
Isabella,  was  born  July  27,  1782,  and  died  February  16,  182,1.  These  pioneers 
came  from  Virginia,  the  CaroUinas,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  where  they 
had  been  God-fearing  people.  Old  Graham  Church  was  first  a  log  house. 
John  Lattimore  and  family,  Walter  Carson  and  family,  James  Mitchell  and 
wife  and.  Thomas  Graham  and  family  settled  nearest  to  the  church.  These 
families,    with   seventeen   persons,    make    up    the    first    membership. 


some  thirty  or  forty  or  a  hundred  warriors  as  a  rule:  but  as  the  deadly  hatred 
engendered  by  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre  cooled  off  a  little  he  felt  safe  in 
roving  about  with  a  much  smaller  number.  It  seems  that  this  massacre  practi- 
cally terminated  the  open  conflict  with  the  whites,  though  the  hostile  feeling 
lasted  a  long  while.  Here  is  what  one  old  settler  says  about  it,  giving  at  the 
same  time  a  graphic  picture  of  the  Big  Chief  in  question: 

"After  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre  we  had  no  further  trouble  with  hostile 
Indians.  The  friendly  ones,  however,  were  continually  prowling  around  doing 
all  the  mischief  in  their  power.  The  Indians  frequently  cut  across  our  land 
when    out   hunting.    One   day    a    party    of   eight    or    ten    came    along,    and    all    were 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


161 


drunk  but  one.  Old  White  Eyes  was  with  them.  They  had  not  gone  far  before 
I  heard  a  crash,  and  looking  around  I  saw  that  one  Indian  had  fallen  off  his 
horse  and  was  sprawling  on  the  ground  with  his  five  or  six  guns  about  him. 
The  sober  one  spent  some  time  trying  to  get  him  mounted,  but  before  his  task 
was  accomplished  quite  a  crowd  of  spectators  had  assembled,  who  enjoyed  the 
fun  very  much. 

"Shortly  after  this  Old  White  Eyes  entered  a  house  and  found  a  woman 
making  soap.  By  threatening  her  he  compelled  her  to  drink  a  half  pint  of  strong 
lye  and  then  left.  Her  husband  returned  in  a  few  moments  and  gave  her  an 
emetic  which  relieved  her  sufferings.  Then  the  husband  gathered  together  two 
or  three  men  and  went  in  search  of  the  Indian,   intending   to   kill   him,    but    failed 


Old  Graham  Presbyterian  Church,  mother  church  of  all  others  of  this 
faith  in  Jennings;  County,  Indiana.  The  pastors  were:  Nathan  B.  Derrow, 
organizer,  August  10,  1817.  Then  came  Rev.  John  Parsons,  1832,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Gray,  John  F.  Crowe  and  Dr.  Blythe,  1833-34.  Rev.  G.  B.  Bishop 
and  Rev.  Wm.  Bell,  1835.  Rev.  Daniel  Lattimore,  son  of  John  Lattimore, 
called  in  1836,  assisted  by  others,  as  he  was  pastor  of  the  Vernon  Church. 
Rev.  Mr.  Dunning-,  the  cultured  and  scholarly  teacher  of  Vernion  Academy, 
came  in  1848.  Rev.  J.  M.  Stone  in  1854.  Rev.  John  B.  Sage  in  1855.  Pastor 
Lattimore  continued  the  active  pastor,  with  these  others  assisting-,  for  about 
twenty  years.  The  present  buil'ding  was  completed  and  paid  for  from  1852 
to  1857  under  Pastor  Lattimore.  Rev.  J.  L.  MoKeehan  and  C.  K.  Thompson 
1868.  Jas.  McjRea  and  J.  C.  Burt  served  between  1868-1881.  In  1881  the 
Rev.  Walter  O.  Lattimore,  son  of  Daniel  Laftimore,  conducted  the  greatest 
revival  in  the  history  of  the  church.  Even  the  mud  and  rain  had  no  effect 
on  the  people;  and  the  church  was  fully  restored.  In  100  years  26  ministers 
served  500  members  and  12  ministers  went  out  from  the  church.  Rev.  Daniel 
Simpson,  the  present  pastor,  is  a  namesake  of  Daniel  Lattimore,  and  one 
of  4  ministers  descended  from  old  pioneer  John  Lattimore.  The  Centennial 
Anniversary,  August  10,  1917,  was  a  great  reunion  and  time  of  rejoicing, 
with  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Henry  H.  Rogers  and  a  sketch  of  the  church  by 
Wialter   M.   Carson. 


to  find  him.  Shortly  afterwards,  White  Eyes  turned  up  in  Scott  county,  to  the 
terror  of  all  the  inhabitants.  Old  Doctor  Hicks,  thinking  to  rid  them  of  him, 
gave  him  poison  in  whiskey,  but  gave  him  too  much;  and,  instead  of  having 
the  desired  effect,  it  acted  as  an  emetic.  White  Eyes  did  not  appreciate  such 
hospitality   and   left   for    'parts   unknown.'" 

From  other  pioneer  recollections  in  the  Vawter  Family  History  we  gather 
tradition  of  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  red  men  from  the  region  between 
Vernon   and   iVadison.      Thomas   Roseberry,   of  Graham   Township,    said:       "When 


162 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre  occurred  the  settlers  were  terror-stricken  and  went 
to  the  block-house  on  the  farm  of  George  Campbell.  During  these  alarming 
times  the  farmers  guarded  the  women  with  guns  in  hand  while  the  cows  were 
being  milked.  Guns  were  also  carried  on  plows  while  plowing  the  ground.  Old 
White  Eyes  visited  our  folks  sometimes,  after  the  massacre,  and  pretended  to  be 
friendly.  He  always  had  an  aversion  to  white  babies,  and  he  said  that  all  those 
whose   heads   were  not   shaped   to   suit   him   ought    to   be   tomahawked." 

A  certain  Col.  Hiram  Prather,  who  lived  in  Jennings  county,  Indiana, 
gives  us  unusual  light  on  the  camping-place  and  final  migration  of  the  red  men 
from  that  vicinity:  "The  Indians  were  encamped  on  the  South  Ford  of  the 
Muscatatuck  Creek,  their  camp  extending  several  miles  up  the  creek.  They  were 
under   the   control    of   Captain    White   Eyes    and    Big    John.    Bill    Killbuck    seemed 


Rev.  Daniel  Lattimore,  born  in  North  Carolina,  February  21,  1804,  died 
as  pastor  of  Old  Vernon  and  Graham  Churches,  March  7,  1857.  His  wife, 
Martha  Lattimore,  was  born  in  1803  and  died  in  1877.  He  was  a  giant  In 
stature  and  had  a  spllendid  mind;  but  the  chances  for  education  were  few. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  five  pupils  under  Rev.  John  Finley  Crowe  at  Han- 
over when  the  college  was  founded.  He  was  living  on  the  farm,  married 
and  the  father  of  two  children  when  his  conversion  and  call  to  the  ministry 
changed  his  whole  life.  He  paid  for  his  living  and  education  by  his  manual 
labor.  He  entered  "the  school  of  the  prophets"  at  Hanover,  which  afterward 
grew  into  MoCormick  Theological  Seminary  at  Chicago.  He  became  a  splen- 
did preacher  and  most  loveable  pastor  and  remained  true  to  his  home 
churches    and    people    until    his    untimely    death    at    Vernon    in    1857. 


to  be  their  chief.  He  was  half  white,  could  read  and  write,  and  was  the  son 
of  Old  Killbuck,  who  was  killed  by  Captain  Collins  near  the  Pigeon  Roost 
Settlement  the  evening  before  the  Massacre.  These  Indians  were  Delawarcs  and 
Potawattomies.  In  the  spring  of  1817  they  left  their  camp  and  by  hundreds 
passed  our  cabin  going  west.  They  used  to  trade  with  our  folks,  selling  bjskcts. 
dressed  skins,   bead  work,   etc." 

Now  this  account  of  the  red  men  in  the  vicinity  of  Old  Vernon  and  Madi- 
son is  anything  but  idyllic.  It  is  not  only  colored  by  the  inevitable  race  antipathy 
of  the   time,   but   the   Indian   people   are   pictured   as   cunning,    drunken    and    degen- 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


163 


crate  wretches  who  should  have  been  exterminated  without  mercy  or  remorse. 
But  today,  one  hundred  years  after  the  passions  and  prejudices  and  untruth  of 
the  fierce  grapple  between  the  whites  for  possession  and  the  red  men  against 
being  dispossessed  of  their  ancestral  hold  on  the  soil  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  we  may 
republish  here  a  story  that  was  told  of  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre  which  throws 
an  entirely  different  light  upon  the  entire  period  and  episode  of  history.  We 
append   this   story    entire    from    another    volume    of    home    history: 

"And  now  again  we  come  to  the  story  of  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre, 
which  occurred  September  3,  1812,  twenty-three  miles  north  of  Jeffersonville, 
near  the  present  site  of  Underwood  and  Vienna,  and  spread  such  terror  through- 
out all  Southern  Indiana  and  Kentucky.  History  has  long  agitated  the  question 
who  was  responsible  for  this  massacre.  We  gave  the  authentic  story  in  the  open- 
ing chapter  of  our  history  some  years  ago;  but  recent  research  has  unearthed  an 
invaluable  version  which  a  writer  in  the  Indianapolis  News  gathered  from  local 
tradition  a  few  years  ago,  and  which  we  give  here,   with  full  credit  to  the  author: 


THE    LATTTMORE    HOME,     VERNON. 
Old    Presbyterian    Manse,    opposite    church. 


"Soon  after  the  Battle  of  Tippecanoe,  November  11,  1811,  there  drifted 
into  Union  Township,  in  the  northwest  part  of  Clark  county,  a  band  of  fifty 
Indians  with  their  squaws  and  children,  headed  by  a  chief,  according  to  the 
word  handed  down  by  descendants  of  Clark  county  pioneers.  He  was  tall,  well- 
built,  strong,  and  in  the  prime  of  manhood.  His  face  was  of  the  classical  Roman 
type.  He  was  a  man  of  dignity,  taciturnity,  and  sternness.  He  had  only  one  wife. 
to  whom  he  was  devoted,  and  besides  her  he  had  a  beautiful  daughter  and  two 
stalwart  sons.  It  was  whispered  among  the  Indians  that  he  had  been  at  the  battle 
of  Fallen  Timber,  where  the  Indians  were  defeated  by  Mad  Anthony  Wayne, 
and  that  he  had  joined  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  and  fought  at  Tippecanoe. 
The  Indians  of  his  band — Delawares — assert  that  he  had  been  a  chief,  wise  in 
council,  great  in  war,  splendid  in  oratory,  and  second  only  to  Tecumseh.  How- 
ever, he  never  spoke  of  himself  to  a  white  man.  Indeed,  he  seldom  spoke  to 
the  whites. 

"In  Union  Township  he  and  his  followers  squatted  on  a  farm  owned  by 
the    father    of    George    Townsend,    grandfather    of    Mrs.    H.    Freeman,    of    Indian- 


164 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


apolis.  He  was  known  as  Chief  Killbuck.  He  was  a  great  hunter  and  trapper, 
and  was  often  seen  chasing  game,  but  the  whites  were  not  familiar  with  him, 
for  they  feared  him,  although  he  had  given  them  no  cause  for  apprehension. 
It  is  told  that  he  was  strictly  honorable  in  all  his  dealings  and  insisted  on  the 
same  course  from  his  men;  and  he  was  careful  to  give  no  offense.  It  is  quite 
certain    that    no    neighbor    suffered    at    his    hands. 


Rev.  Walter  O.  Lattimore,  Evangelist,  son  of  Rev.  Daniel  Lattimore, 
lived  in  the  Manse  at  Vernon.  Educated  there  and  volunteered  with  his 
brothers  in  1861,  becoming  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Union  Army.  At  the 
timo  under  18  years  of  age  and  never  had  been  away  from  home  influences. 
Had  never  tasted  liquor  or  played  cards.  His  regiment  w<as  officered  by 
young  men  old  in  dissipation.  He  gave  way  to  temptation  very  soon  and 
laughed  at  the  cautions  of  wiser  men.  He  became  the  slave  of  evil  habits 
and  when  he  resigned  from  the  Army  in  1S70  he  made  a  desperate  effort 
to  straighten  up.  He  had  a  terrible  struggle  for  six  years.  He  seems  to 
have  married  and  reared  children,  for  his  people  tell  how  his  wife  left  him 
till  he  could  do  better;  and  one  night  his  little  girl,  who  remained  with 
him,  was  his  only  solace.  He  had  secreted  poison  or  a  pistol  to  end  his 
misery  that  night,  but  his  little  girl  calling  for  her  mother  softened  him. 
so  that  he  regained  self-control  and  postponed  the  dreadful  deed  of  self- 
destruction.  In  the  fall  of  1876  he  had  gone  on  his  way  to  the  Northwest 
to  escape  from  home  and  loved  ones  with  the  promise  to  be  a  better  man. 
But  in  Chicago  he  gave  up  to  the  wildest  debauchery  and  dissipation.  He 
destroyed  all  evidence  of  identity;  but  by  chance  dropped  into  the  tabernacle 
of  Whittle  and  Bliss.  He  was  stupified  with  liquor  and  hated  the  sight 
of    human    beings.      Ira   D.    Sankey    was    singing    the    stanza: 

"Sowing    the    seed    of    a    ling-ering    pain; 
Sowing   the    seed    of   a    maddened    brain; 
Sowing    the    seed    of    a    tarnished    name; 
Sowing    the   seed    of    Eternal    Shame; 
Oh,    what    shall    the    harvest    be?" 

The  soul;-  brought  Old  Vernon  and  all  the  tender  home  ties  back  to 
memory;  and  he  rushed  out  of  the  Tabernacle  like  a  hunted  animal.  For  two 
weeks  he  fought  against  his  convictions,  but  finally,  on  his  knees  he  gave  up 
to  God.  His  conversion  and  call  to  the  ministry  constitute  a  wonderful  story 
of    saving    grace. 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN  165 

"Trouble,  however,  was  inevitable.  The  buffalo  had  disappeared;  the  deer 
and  other  game  became  scarce;  the  little  patches  of  corn  could  not,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  keep  the  Indian  band  alive.  In  addition,  the  Delawares  must  have 
felt  the  soreness  of  defeat  and  the  whites'  injustice,  which  had  deprived  them 
of  their  land  and  possessions.  In  the  trading  of  pelts  for  meal  and  other  neces- 
sities,   they   were   often   cheated. 

"During  the  winter  after  their  coming,  an  incident  occurred  which  nearly 
fanned  the  smouldering  ill-feeling  among  the  bucks  into  a  flame.  One  day  a 
young  man,  a  runner,  dissappeared,  and  the  Indians  accused  the  whites  of  kill- 
ing the  boy.  The  whites,  in  a  fear  and  trembling,  wished  to  prove  their  innocence, 
and  took  the  trail  with  the  Indians.  The  trail  disappeared  at  a  sycamore  tree 
on  the  bank  of  Wolfe  Creek,  where  the  town  of  Henryville  now  stands.  Again, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  find  some  trace.  Finally,  one  of  the  settlers  who  halted 
at  the  tree,  heard  a  feeble  scratching  in  the  tree.  He  obtained  a  hatchet  and  found 
the  tree  hollow.  The  Indian,  starved  and  exhausted,  had  climbed  the  tree  after 
a  coon  and  had   fallen   in. 

"Almost  immediately  after  this  incident,  which  frightened  the  settlers,  a 
tragedy  followed,  five  miles  east  of  Killbuck  Camp,  but  evidently  neither  he 
nor  his  men  were  responsible  for  it.  At  the  headwaters  of  Silver  Creek,  near 
Henryville,  an  old  man,  Huffman,  was  standing  in  the  door  of  his  log  house 
one  Sunday  evening,  when  there  was  suddenly  a  crack  of  a  rifle  and  he  fell 
dead.  His  wife  and  daughter,  trying  to  escape  by  the  back  door,  were  also  killed. 
A  young  son  was  carried  away  captive.  Another  son  hid  in  a  hollow  log  and 
escaped.  The  case  of  the  captured  boy  attracted  national  attention;  and  twelve 
years  later,  Jonathan  Jennings,  then  Congressman,  obtained  $500  for  his  ran- 
som, and  the  young  man,  by  that  time  twenty-one  years  old,  was  brought  back 
from  Canada,    where  he   had  been   sold   to   French   traders. 

"For  a  time  he  lived  with  Colonel  Jesse  B.  Durham,  at  Vallonia,  Jackson 
county,  but  he  preferred  the  wild  life  and  soon  disappeared.  Inquiry  for  him 
and  descendents  was  made  through  local  papers  twenty  years  ago  but  with- 
out result.  Killbuck  and  his  people  were  at  once  suspected  of  these  murders,  but 
were  evidently  not  guilty.  They  were  more  probably  committed  by  a  roving 
band  from  the  North.  But  though  Killbuck  held  his  followers  under  strict  hand, 
the  tension  was  near  the  breaking-point:  and  if  local  tradition  is  right,  it  cul- 
minated in  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre,  in  which  twenty-four  persons,  (three 
men,  five  women  and  sixteen  children)    lost  their  lives  near  Vienna,   Scott  county. 

"Locally,  the  story  was  that  Killbuck  had  bargained  with  William  Collins 
for  a  peck  of  corn  meal,  but  when  he  came  to  his  wigwam  and  emptied  the 
sack,  he  found  it  was  half  full  of  bran.  Then  he  flew  into  a  rage,  denounced 
the  whites  as  the  robbers  of  the  Indians'  lands,  requiring  the  red  men  to  eat  bran. 

"Thirty  of  his  bucks  are  said  to  have  disappeared  from  the  camp  on  the 
evening  before  the  massacre,  and  they,  it  is  believed,  committed  the  slaughter  in 
revenge  for  the  insult  to  their  chief.  William  Collins  and  Captain  John  Nor- 
ris,  however,  defended  themselves  successfully  in  one  of  the  houses  of  the  set- 
tlement and  escaped,  when  darkness  came,  to  the  home  of  Zebulon  Collins. 
This  version  is  vigorously  denied  by  the  descendants  of  Collins,  who  blame  the 
Delawares  from  White  River  for  the  massacre.  It  is  related  that  men  under 
Captain   Parker  pursued   the  ravagers,   but   old   settlers   do   not   credit   this,    asserting 


166  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

that   everybody   was   too   badly   frightened   to   go    far   from    home,    and    that    most 
of  the  people  had  taken  refuge  in  the  stockades  and  forts  that  dotted  the  country. 

"The  massacre  of  the  garrisons  and  the  people  of  Fort  Dearborn  (Chicago) 
occurred  August  7,  and  the  attack  on  Fort  Harrison  (Terre  Haute)  occurred 
almost  at  the  same  hour  as  the  Pigeon  Roost  outrage.  Fort  Wayne  was  besieged 
about   the  same   time. 

"Of  course  in  these  latter  affairs  Killbuck's  band  could  have  had  no  hand 
if  indeed  they  were  principals,  or  had  part  in,  the  murder  of  Pigeon  Roost. 
The  settlers  were  too  much  afraid  of  him.  Six  months  after  the  massacre  he 
and  his  band  disappeared." 

The  History  of  Clark  county,  Indiana,  published  some  forty  odd  years 
ago,  gives  us  older  traditions  of  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre  which  illumine  the 
hidden  and  mysterious  motives  of  it  and  give  the  local  tragedy  its  proper  place 
in   the   general   story   of   the   War   of    1812.    Says    this   older   tradition: 

"For  sometime  previous  to  the  year  1811  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest 
had  manifested  no  little  unfriendliness  toward  the  whites  of  the  Frontier.  This 
enmity  was  encouraged  and  aggravated  by  the  British,  in  prospect  of  the  war 
that  soon  after  broke  out  between  this  country  and  England.  Tecumseh,  the 
leader  among  the  dissatisfied  Indians  of  Canada  and  the  Northwest,  visited  the 
tribes  of  the  South  and  Southwest  for  the  purpose  of  stirring  them  up  against 
the  whites,  and  of  securing  their  co-operation  in  striking  a  terrible  blow  upon 
the  frontier  settlements.  Governor  Harrison,  being  informed  of  the  schemes  of 
this  cunning  Indian  warrior,  and  knowing  his  influence  with  the  various  tribes, 
proceeded  up  the  Wabash  with  an  armed  force  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
the  treaty  of  Greenville,  or  of  making  some  new  treaty  by  which  the  frontiers 
should  be  protected  from  Indian  depredations.  He  was  successful  in  driving  them 
from  their  towns  and  in  destroying  their  property.  But  when  the  war  with 
England  began  in  1812,  they  renewed  their  hostilities.  Being  supplied  by  the 
Britishers  with  arms  and  ammunition,  they  were  enabled  to  wage  a  much  more 
destructive  warfare   upon  the  whites  than   they   had   done  before." 

In  looking  up  these  traditions  we  have  come  upon  the  fact  that  "vast 
numbers  of  the  citizens"  of  Clark  county  crossed  the  river  into  Oldham  and 
Jefferson  counties  for  safety  from  the  red  men.  Those  who  came  to  Oldham 
county  seem  to  have  taken  refuge  at  the  Magruder-Belknap  home,  which  was 
the  chief  fortress  in  this  section.  In  a  previous  narrative  we  gave  another  story 
of  the  Pigeon  Roost  Massacre,  long  ago  current  across  the  river,  which  differs 
widely  in  several  particulars  from  some  we  have  already  closely  studied  and  pub- 
lished. But  in  the  main  these  several  accounts  reveal  the  fundamental  race  hos- 
tilities that  were  fanned  into  flame  by  the  British  in  the  War  of   1812. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 


>ife  ZbtabtntQ  &nh  piiglt  ji^Wol  in  ^txm&n 


^S^^^*  HE  story  of  the  Old  Vernon  Academy  is  a  most  typical  and  impres- 
■  I  *^  sive  chapter  in  the  great  struggle  against  ignorance  and  barbarism 
Vl/  waged   in    every  frontier  community  of  Southern  Indiana  long  years  ago. 

mM  The  Rev.  Nathan  B.   Dcrrow,   a  New  England  Home  Missionary,  who 

founded  the  Old  Graham  Presbyterian  Church  in  Jennings  County  in  1817,  was  per- 
haps more  deeply  conscious  of  the  need  of  schools  and  teacheis  among  the  car.y  pioneers 
than  was  any  otheif  evangel  of  the  gospel  in  all  the  Hoosier  Backwoods.  We 
first  find  mention  on  record  of  Mr.  Derrow's  name  as  a  pioneer  pastor  at  Homer, 
New  York.  He  remained  there  several  years,  where  his  labors  were  blessed  with 
successive  revivals,  as  the  historian  tells  us.  Then  "the  impulse  of  the  wave  of 
emigration  bore  him  on  to  Western  Ohio  and  Indiana."  He  organized  several 
new   churches  in  Ohio.   Then   the   record   says: 

"In  1816,  Charles  Robinson,  sent  out  by  one  of  the  New  York  Missionary 
Societies  to  labor  in  Missouri,  passed  through  this  region.  He  found  in  the  Ter- 
ritories of  Indiana  and  Illinois  but  one  settled  pastor  and  five  or  six  missionaries. 
In  June  of  the  same  year  Rev.  Nathan  B.  Derrow,  for  seven  years  an  efficient 
missionary  of  the  Connecticut  Society  in  the  Western  Reserve,  of  Ohio,  left 
that  field  to  accept  a  missionary  appointment  to  Indiana  and  Illinois.  He  passed 
through  Ohio  by  circuitous  route  to  Jeffersonville,  Indiana.  Here  he  spent  a 
few  weeks,  thence  proceeding  north  to  Fort  Harrison,  then  down  the  Wabash 
on  his  tour  of  exploration. 

BACKWOODS   IGNORANCE   LONG   AGO 

"He  found  the  field  at  once  destitute  and  inviting.  Although  the  country 
was  yet  but  thinly  settled,  additions  to  the  population  were  continual  and 
great.  Illiterate  and  enthusiastic  preachers  were  numerous.  He  was  deeply  affected 
and  distressed  by  the  extreme  ignorance  which  prevailed,  especially  among  the 
first  settlers  and  their  children.  In  every  direction,  he  said,  many  whole  families 
were  to  be  found  without  a  book  of  any  sort.  The  population  was  extremely 
heterogeneous.  Many  belonged  to  the  hunting  class.  In  a  large  number  of  instances, 
extreme  indigence  was  connected  with  extreme  ignorance.  When  tracts  were  pre- 
sented by  the  missionary  he  was  asked  to  read  them  by  those  who  declared  they 
could  not  read  themselves.  The  state  of  general  intelligence  was  humiliatingly 
low.  The  people  were  just  in  a  condition  to  become  the  prey  of  the  false  teachers. 

"Mr.  Derrow  commenced  his  labors  with  energy,  and  was  instrumental 
in  organizing  four  Bible  Societies — three  in  Indiana  and  one  in  Illinois.  As 
immigration  increased  the  more  unsettled  and  nomadic  classes  moved  to  more 
distant  regions.  Orderly  government  began  to  be  established  and  reorganized.  The 
Legislature  enacted   laws   frowning   upon   vice  and   immorality." 


168  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


OLD    GRAHAM    CHURCH 


Mention  is  then  made  of  Mr.  Derrow  organizing  a  church  in  Jennings 
county,  Indiana,  evidently  the  one  at  Graham,  and  also  one  in  Jackson  county. 
This  latter  must  have  been  a  very  early  group  of  Presbyterians  who  afterward 
disbanded,  as  no  trace  of  them  was  to  be  found  in  local  tradition  long  after- 
ward. Mr.  Derrow  was  encouraged  with  the  results  of  his  labors.  He  was  received 
with  marked  kindness  by  the  pioneer  people,  and  while  he  records  no  great 
revivals,  nevertheless  individual  conversions  were  numerous  and  genuine  under 
his  ministry;  and  in  1816  he  planted  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Rising  Sun, 
and  in  1817  the  one  at  Graham,  with  seventeen  members.  Judge  Dunn,  the 
Presbyterian  pioneer  from  Danville,  Kentucky,  was  then  living  at  Hanover,  and 
Mr.  Derrow  had  preached  in  his  neighborhood.  He  made  the  circuit  of  Jennings 
county  and  found  those  sturdy  Carolinians  and  New  Englanders  and  perhaps 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  settled  here  and  there.  The  Presbyterians  being  at  that  time 
more  numerous  around  Graham  than  at  Vernon,  the  Mother  Church  of  Jennings 
county    was   at    Graham. 

Meanwhile,  the  Rev.  William  Robinson,  mentioned  at  the  outset,  had  been 
located  at  Madison  two  or  three  years,  where  he  taught  school  and  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1815,  organized  a  Presbyterian  church  with  about  fifteen  or  twenty 
members.  We  thus  see  the  Pastor-Teacher  as  a  herald  of  light  and  civilization 
wherever  he  came.  Miss  Annie  F.  Carney,  Mr.  E.  E.  Alcott,  and  County  Sup- 
erintendent Shepherd  Whitcomb,  of  Jennings  county,  have  searched  out  and 
presented  the  facts  of  the  Old  Vernon  Academy  in  a  most  striking  narrative. 
The  impress  of  Miss  Carney's  cultured  mind,  as  a  long  resident  teacher  at  Vernon, 
is  very  discernible  in  this  account,  published  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  State 
Superintendent   of   Public   Instruction    for    1917: 

ROCKY   SOIL   AND   RUGGED   MEN 

"The  fact  that  from  sterile  soil  and  rocky  hills  and  mountains,  come  the 
leaders    in    the    world's    history    finds    illustration    in    Jennings    county.    The    rich 

central  counties  look  rather  disdainfully  on  our  yellow  clay  and  stony  hillsides. 
yet  an  investigation  will  generally  develop  the  fact  that  Jennings  county,  and 
especially  Vernon,  through  the  early  schools  has  produced  the  men  who  have  fur- 
nished their  towns  and  cities  with  some  of  their  most  public  spirited  and  pro- 
gressive business  and  professional  leaders,  who  perhaps  more  than  balance  the 
scales  against  hogs  and  corn. 

"Vernon,  the  picturesque  peninsula  city,  was  settled  by  cultured  Southern 
and  Eastern  pioneers.  John  Vawter,  the  founder,  laid  out  the  town,  and  later 
in  August  1817,  the  first  town  lots  were  sold.  At  this  time  certain  lots  were 
donated  by  Vawter  and  McClure  for  churches,  schools,  and  a  public  play-ground 
known   as    'The   Commons'    was   deeded    forever   to   the   children    of    Vernon.    'The 

Commons'  bounded  on  the  east  and  north  by  the  fair  Muscatatuck  and  beautiful 
hills,    is   an   ideal   play-ground.    Near   the   Commons   John    Vawter   built    in    1817 

a  cabin  for  a  school  house,  and  the  Rev.  Joel  Butler,  an  aged  Baptist  preacher 
of  New  York  State,   taught  the  first  school. 

"Mr.  Butler's  son,  Chauncy  Butler,  and  family  had  come  to  this  new 
territory  in  1816,  and  the  father  had  come  to  visit,  and  occupied  the  time  teach- 
ing the  few  pioneer  children.  Ovid  Butler,  the  founder  of  Butler  College,  was 
a  son  of  Chauncey   Butler. 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


169 


"Soon  afterward  Mrs.  Lard  came  from  the  East  to  the  little  cabin  school 
house  to  teach  the  school.  Mrs.  Lard  had  united  with  a  Baptist  church  in  her 
native  state,  Vermont,  when  a  young  girl,  and  the  Rev.  Joel  Butler  had  baptized 
her.  Mrs.  Lard  lived  in  the  cabin  school  house,  'kept  a  boarder'  and  taught 
school.  Mrs.  Lard's  plan  of  teaching  was  individual,  each  pupil  standing  at  her 
knee  to  receive  instruction  and  to  recite.  Many  interesting  things  have  been  writ- 
ten of  this  school,  and  of  the  characteristics  of  this  teacher." 


EARLY  BAPTIST  TEACHERS 

We  thus  see  that  the  credit  of  establishing  the  first  "grammar  school"  in 
Vernon  belongs  to  John  Vawter  and  the  early  Baptist  teachers  just  mentioned. 
The  next  step  connects  the  opening  of  the  "Jennings  County  Seminary"  with 
Presbyterian  traditions  out  of  which  Hanover  College  was  formed.  The 
year  1822  finds  this  Seminary  mentioned  in  the  county  records;  and  Andrew 
Porter,   Clerk  of  Session  in   the  newly  organized   Presbyterian   church,    May    11th, 


Vernon's  Earliest  Academy  Building-,   according-   to  tradition. 


1825,  is  named  as  an  accomplished  "Preceptor"  in  the  town,  though  not  as 
a  teacher  in  the  Seminary.  His  penmanship  was  much  admired;  and  he  was 
evidently  a  man  versed  in  the  graces  and  refinements  of  life.  The  Rev.  Daniel 
Lattimore,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Vernon  after  the  Rev.  John 
Finley  Crowe,  is  also  named  as  the  first  teacher  in  Vernon  to  give  private  lessons 
in  Latin  to  the  youth  of  the  town.  There  is  no  exact  date  given  when  the  Sem- 
inary building  was  completed,  "but  it  was  in  the  early  thirties."  Hence  the 
traditional  influence  of  Dr.  Crowe  and  Hanover  College  undoubtedly  merits 
special  mention  here.  From  1825  to  183  7  Rev.  Dr.  Crowe  seems  to  have  been 
the  regular  pastor  of  the  church,  as  the  name  of  Rev.  Mr.  Lattimore  does  not 
appear  on  sessional  records  until  March  11th,  1837.  Hence  the  school  historians 
who  describe  Mr.  Lattimore  as  pasctor  from  1825  to  1837,  and  as  giving  his 
private  lessons  in  Latin  during  that  time,  are  in  error.  Did  Dr.  Crowe,  who 
was    himself    the    pastor    during    that    precise    period,     and    a    most    accomplhiscd 


170 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


scholar  and  teacher,  give  such  lessons  while  in  Vernon?  Or  did  Mr.  Lattimore 
teach  a  Latin  class  at  Vernon  during  Dr.  Crowe's  pastorate  there,  and  then  con- 
tinue such  instruction  when  he  became  Dr.  Crowe's  successor?  We  do  not  know 
with  any  certainty;  but  Presbyterian  influence  in  establishing  the  classical  basis 
of  the  Vernon  Academy  was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  old  brick  parsonage 
occupied  by  Mr.  Lattimore  during  his  residence  as  a  pastor  and  teacher  stands 
right  across  from  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  the  Academy  itself  was  just 
across  the  street  from  the  parsonage,  being  the  brick  house  now  occupied  by 
County   Superintendent   Shepherd   Whitcomb. 

At  all  events,  the  "grade  schools"  of  Vernon  were  the  little  brick  cottage 
up  against  the  railroad  bank,  occupied  now  by  Mrs.  Balser,  and  another  brick 
cottage  two  doors  beyond  the  home  of  Rev.  Daniel  Simpson  and  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Carson.  The  first  brick-built  Academy  served  until  a  later,  more  commodious 
structure  was  put  up  in  1859.  That  first  Academy  was  mainly  a  subscription 
school,  and  the  charge  was  from  one  to  two  dollars  for  a  term  of  thirteen  weeks. 


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"The  Old  Academy"  of  1859  and  after.  So  beloved  by 
the  pupils  who  were  educated  there.  It  was  long-  a  High 
School    also. 


One  of  the  earliest  teachers  was  a  certain  Prof.  Hamant,  "a  small,  slender 
man  with  a  cat-like  tread  that  enabled  him  to  steal  upon  his  plotters  of  mischief 
unawares    till    the    resounding    whack    of    his    ferule    was    heard." 

The  next  teacher  was  a  woman  who  would  have  pleased  Edward  Eggleston 
himself,  a  Mrs.  Stevens,  sent  out  to  enlighten  the  destitute  West  by  a  benevolent 
New  England  Society.    "She  was  cultured,   dignified,    and   of  a  lovely   character." 


HANOVER  SENDS  TEACHERS  TO  VERNON 

In  1842  Hanover  College  directly  supplied  the  head  of  the  Vernon  Academy. 
A  young  Mr.  Beck  was  sent,  uho  introduced  algebra  for  the  first  lime.  In  184  3 
young    William    Butler    of    Hanover    College    taught    the    classical    branches    in    the 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN  171 

Vernon  Academy  and  afterward  became  a  distinguished  educator.  He  was  mur- 
dered in  Louisville  while  head  of  the  High  School  there,  by  Matt  Ward,  whose 
brother  had  been  punished  by  Prof.  Butler. 

In  1845  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Dunning,  cultured  Presbyterian  pastor  of  Old 
Graham  Church,  headed  the  Vernon  Academy.  We  are  informed  by  the  school 
historians  that  he  was  "The  Teacher  who  left  an  impress  upon  his  pupils  which 
was  transmitted  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation."  He  was  a  most  gifted 
scholar  in  the  ancient  and  modern  languages,  was  right  at  the  top  in  mathematics, 
and  "education  took  on  a  new  meaning."  He  made  reading  a  fine  art;  he  per- 
mitted a  girl  to  enter  the  Latin  class  with  the  boys;  and  during  his  several  years 
at  Vernon  he  brought  the  Academy  to  a  new  standard  of  excellence.  The  exhibi- 
tions given  at  the  close  of  his  school  terms  were  events  in  Vernon.  These  exercises 
were  usually  held  in  the  Presbyterian  church.  The  program  of  1849  is  pre- 
served in  which  forty  persons  took  part.  Mr.  Dunning  had  night  classes  in 
chemistry,  and  his  wife  taught  French  and  botany.  Their  influence  was  per- 
manent and  far-reaching.  They  organized  the  first  Historical  Society  in  Vernon, 
the  meetings  of  which  were  held  at  their  home.  The  Academy  graduates  became 
known  as  the  Dunning  Boys  and  Girls  and  among  the  pupils  who  attained  to  suc- 
cess  and   celebrity    were: 

"David  Vawter,  Banker;  Rev.  James  Read;  Hon.  Jeptha  D.  New,  member 
of  Congress;  Drs.  John  Tipton  Shields  and  James  Sevier  Shields;  Dr.  P.  W. 
Payne;  Hon.  John  C.  New;  Rev.  Dr.  W.  T.  Stott.  former  President  of  Franklin 
College;  Rev.  Orlando  Clark;  Hon.  Ovid  Butler;  Hon.  Horatio  Newcomb  of  the 
Grant  Administration;  Gen.  Robert  S.  Foster  and  brothers,  Wallace,  William, 
Edward  and  Chapin;  Susan  Dunning,  known  as  'Shirley  Dare'  newspaper  woman; 
Mrs.   Mary  Peabody   Leavitt,    poet,    lecturer   and  W.    C.    T.    U.    worker." 

The  foundations  of  a  new  Academy  building  were  laid  several  years  before 
the  Civil  War,  with  much  pomp  and  ceremony,  the  pupils  depositing  a  copy 
of  the  literary  society  constitution  and  other  articles  as  mementoes  of  the  occasion. 
When  the  New  Academy  was  opened  in  1859  Prof.  O.  Phelps  was  the  Superin- 
tendent. He  was  a  man  who  inspired  the  best  in  his  pupils.  Associated  with 
him  was  a  Mrs.  Collins,  a  former  Vernon  girl,  who  had  graduated  from  Albion 
College,  Michigan  and  began  her  work  in  Vernon  in  1855,  continuing  for 
fifteen  years.  She  was  a  woman  of  rare  personal  charm,  possessing  high  intel- 
lectual and  musical  attainments.  Her  pupils,  scattered  all  over  the  United  States 
and  foreign  countries,  honor  her  and  attribute  their  success  in  life  to  her  skilled 
teaching.' 

WILLIAM  H.    VENABLE,   POET-TEACHER 

The  next  teacher  was  a  man  of  rare  poetical  genius  and  a  mind  of  very 
high  order — Prof.  W.  H.  Venable,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  "He  brought  much 
culture  and  refinement  to  the  pupils  and  town.  He  was  a  writer  of  verse, 
historian,  author  and  lecturer.  He  believed  in  weekly  reports  and  each  week 
those  who  had  been  perfect  in  their  work  were  reported  to  the  public  through  the 
weekly  newspaper.  Each  time  the  statement  is  made,  'Our  standard  is  high.' 
Mr.  Venable  resigned  to  become  Superintendent  of  the  Chichering  Schools  at 
Cincinnati." 


172  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

During  Prof.  Venable's  incumbency  the  literary  exercises  and  training  of 
the  youth  in  self-expression  by  recitation,  dramatic  exercises,  debating  and  gen- 
eral reading,  brought  the  Academy  to  a  memorable  level  of  culture.  There  were 
two  school  papers  gotten  out;  and  Friday  afternoon  was  a  delightful  occasion 
for  the  literary  entertainment.  Prof.  Venable's  poems  often  came  to  him  in  the 
school  room  or  after  the  day's  work  was  done.  He  wrote  also  of  Nature  in  the 
Ohio  Valley  and  was  an  artist  of  unerring  instinct  in  the  use  of  words  and 
phrases,  as  well  as  a  soul  of  music  and  rapture  close  to  Nature's  heart  in  the 
joy  of  seasons  and  the  exquisite,  haunting  beauty  of  his  lines.  "June  on  the 
Miami"  was  loaned  us  to  read  by  Miss  Cora  Carney;  and  we  do  not  v/onder 
that  such  a  Poet-Teacher  influenced  so  profoundly  the  youth  of  Vernon  years 
ago. 

The  names  of  A.  M.  Weston,  pupil  of  Horace  Mann  and  a  graduate  of 
Antioch  College,  and  of  W.  H.  McCoy,  a  graduate  of  Franklin  College  follow 
immediately  after  the  Civil  War.  Perhaps  Miss  Annie  F.  Carney  left  as  lasting 
an  impress  on  young  lives  as  any  woman  teacher  in  the  Old  Academy,  for  she 
taught  twenty-seven  years  and  she  herself  incarnated  the  culture  and  refinement 
and  nobility  of  character  set  before  the  pupils  by  precept  and  example  from  day 
to  day  through  all  the  years. 

ALBERT   EDWARD   WIGGAM 

Of  all  the  names  representing  the  culture  of  the  Vernon  High  School  per- 
haps none  has  attained  the  reputation  in  the  world  of  science  and  human  service 
possessed  by  Albert  Edward  Wiggam.  Mr.  Gudgell,  of  North  Vernon,  his  old 
school  mate  down  at  Deputy,  Indiana,  was  telling  us  one  winter  evening  by  the 
fireside  of  his  boyhood  days  with  "Ed"  Wiggam,  as  all  his  old  friends  and 
school    fellows  love   to   call   him. 

Mr.  Wiggam's  father  was  a  strong  local  character  at  Deputy,  worth  a  good 
sum  of  money  in  those  days.  He  went  to  Cincinnati  on  the  stock  trains  to 
dispose  of  his  stock  and  traded  successfully.  He  was  a  man  who  set  a  religious 
value  on  the  church  and  a  cultural  value  on  the  school  of  the  town.  He  and  a 
Mr.  Deputy,  for  whom  the  town  was  named,  established  the  Camp  Meeting  down 
there  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.  The  grounds  were  down  the  hill  from  the  rail- 
road in  a  beech  grove  still  standing.  It  was  a  wonderful  center  for  people  from 
Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Madison  and  Seymour,  and  all  the  country  round.  They 
first  went  for  three  weeks  then  for  ten  days.  The  farmers  tried  to  get  the  work 
up  so  they  could  attend  the  meetings.  You  could  hear  the  singing  on  a  still 
summer    night    for    two    miles    or    more    down    the    creek. 

Bishop  Vincent  came  there  and  was  a  great  drawing  card:  and  then  Dr. 
Willcts.  of  Louisville,  with  his  famous  lecture  "Sunshine."  which  was  really 
Chautauqua  work.  It  was  different  from  anything  of  the  sort  heard  up  to 
that  time.  Thousands  attended  each  year  and  only  recently  was  the  place  dis- 
posed of.  This  form  of  religious  assemblage  and  service  stimulated  the  entire 
community  mentally,  morally  and  spiritually;  and  the  modern  Chatauqua  followed 
inevitably. 

But  Mr.  Gudgell  insists  that  the  most  impressive  thing  to  him  was  the 
rise   of   gifted    youth   out    of    the    schools.      Mr.    Wiggam    gave    no    special    sign    of 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN  173 

genius  but  got  ready  for  Hanover  College  like  other  boys.  He  rode  back  and 
forth  on  his  wheel  and  then  entered  on  a  struggle  for  life  and  health  that  brought 
out  the  astonishing  mentality  and  heroism  of  this  greatest  master  of  the  social 
sciences  in  all  the  Middle  West.  Mr.  C.  C.  Jordan,  of  Old  Vernon  Pres- 
byterian church,  insists  that  he  first  introduced  "Ed"  Wiggam  to  the  cultured  and 
charming  young  teacher  who  became  Mrs.  Wiggam  and  who  merits  as  much 
appreciation  and  praise  as  he  in  the  success  that  has  come  with  the  years.  Any- 
how,  Vernon  loves  them  quite  as  much  as  they  love  Vernon. 

The  mother  of  the  Wiggam  boys  died  in  their  early  years  and  the  next 
Mother  Wiggam  was  the  widow  of  Mr.  Deputy,  for  whom  the  town  of  Deputy 
was  named.  When  she  moved  to  Vernon  after  the  death  of  Father  Wiggam 
at  Deputy,  it  was  to  get  back  to  her  own  people  and  to  put  her  young  people 
in  the  Vernon  High  School.  Vernon  thus  became  the  permanent  Wiggam  home. 
Mr.  Wiggam  said  she  was  one  of  the  greatest  mothers  of  Southern  Indiana.  She 
was  a  true  and  loving  mother  to  the  sons  and  daughters  and  they  loved  her 
with  a  devotion  that  was  beautiful.  Mr.  "Ed"  Wiggam  now  spends  his  summers 
and   his  intervening    "creative  periods"    of   writing   at   the   old   home   in    Vernon. 


Summer  Home  of  Albert  Edward  "Wiggam,  the  noted 
writer  on  Social  Science,  at  "Vernon,  Indiana,  where  he 
attended  High  School  and  which  is  the  dearest  of  all 
earthly    towns    to    him    still. 


Mr.  Gudgell  added  a  lot  of  color  and  humor  to  the  background  of  his 
story  about  the  rise  of  education  and  culture  by  describing  Old  Uncle  Dan 
Blotcher,  the  great  pioneer  figure  who  used  to  attend  the  Old  Settler's  Meetin's 
at  Chariestown  and  Paris  Crossing.  These  were  great  one  day  gatherings  where 
thousands  of  people  assembled  by  trainloads  from  all  the  surrounding  country. 
There  were  genuine  old  pioneers  present,  old  fiddlers  and  old  grandmothers  with 
their  spinning  wheels  and  other  curios  of  the  log  cabin  period.  Mr.  Gudgell 
said  he  was  naturally  more  interested  in  the  side  shows  and  the  magic  men  on 
the  side,  who  performed  for  profit.  Uncle  Dan  came  of  an  old  Kentucky 
family  and  was  not  learned  in  books  nor  correct  in  his  English;  but  he  was  a 
born  leader  of  men.  He  used  to  ride  into  Deputy  on  a  beautiful  horse.  The 
town  extended  all  along  the  railroad  and  he  would  ride  the  entire  length  of  the 
street  at   a   sweeping   gallop,    hat  in  hand,    to   attract   the  admiring   gaze   of  every- 


174  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

body.  Then  every  town  character  would  come  to  the  place  where  he  hitched 
his  horse  and  listen  for  the  morning  or  afternoon  to  Uncle  Dan's  inimitable 
yarns.  He  was  always  ready  for  a  little  impromptu  talk  at  a  Sunday  School 
rally,  an  Old  Settlers'  Meetin',  a  funeral,  or  a  school  commencement.  He 
represented  his  people  in  the  Indiana  Legislature  and  danced  in  his  sock  feet  at 
the  Governor's  Ball.  The  point  of  our  entire  thought  is  just  what  Mr.  Wiggam 
has  always  insisted  upon,  namely,  that  the  sum  of  all  culture  lies  in  a  deep  and 
genuine  appreciation  and  interpretation  of  strong,  original  character  and  people 
right   here   at   home   in   Hoosier-Land. 

He  said  there  were  many  standards  of  success  in  the  world;  but  that  the 
most  successful  person  he  had  ever  known  or  seen  was  a  big,  fleshy,  flat- f looted, 
motherly  old  soul  down  on  one  of  the  razor-back  farms  such  as  we  have  so 
abundantly  in  Old  Jennings  county.  When  you  went  to  her  house  you  were 
never  aware  of  want  nor  harsh  necessity.  She  set  a  bountiful  meal  before  you 
and  her  hospitality  and  benevolence  of  spirit  were  abounding.  That  good  woman 
was  the  mother  of  ten  or  twelve  children,  six  of  whom  became  ministers  and 
college  presidents.  She  was  a  genius  of  resourcefulness  in  making  ends  meet 
and  getting  her  boys  by  in  the  battle  for  an  education.  Just  such  mothers  of  old 
days  sent  their  sons  and  daughters  to  academies  like  that  at  Vernon  and  to 
Hanover    College. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 


%ht  H0&  anh  %kt  Mhlih 


ONE  DAY  about  the  year  1850,  Professor  Josiah  Bliss,  superintendent 
of  the  Louisville  Collegiate  Institute,  felt  compelled  to  punish  one 
of  his  pupils  for  telling  a  falsehood.  The  boy  was  William  Ward, 
and  he  belonged  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  proudest  families  in  the 
city.  The  next  morning,  while  Professor  Bliss  was  conducting  the  recitation  of 
his  first  class  of  boys,  the  door  opened  and  in  walked  Robert,  William  and 
Victor  Ward,  accompanied  by  an  elder  brother,  whom  the  superintendent  did  not 
at  first  recognize. 

"Is  this  Mr.  Bliss?"  asked  the  young  man  in  a  positive  tone  as  he 
approached   the   teacher's   desk. 

"I   am  he,   sir,"    answered   the  professor,    looking   him   squarely   in   the   eye. 

"Then  I  would  like  to  speak  with  you  at  the  door,  sir,"  said  the  young 
man  in  an  equally  positive  tone. 

Mr.  Bliss  started  with  him  toward  the  door;  but  the  eager  eyes  of  the 
younger  boys  made  the  professor  certain  that  the  larger  young  man  was  a  brother 
of  William  Ward.  So  he  halted  at  the  threshold  and  demanded  to  know  what 
was   wanted   of   him. 

"Come  out  here,  sir,  and  I  will  show  you!"  answered  the  elder  Ward,  now 
in   a   very   threatening   tone   of   voice. 

"Is  your  name  Ward?"  asked  Mr.  Bliss. 

"It  is,  sir,  and  I  want  to  know  why  you  whipped  my  brother  William 
yesterday?" 

"If  you  will  come  inside,  I  will  settle  that  matter  with  you,"  answered 
Bliss   calmly. 

"You  cursed  rascal  and  coward!  Why  don't  you  come  out  here  like  a 
man?"   hissed  Ward  with  murder  in   his  eye. 

Bliss  was  sure  he  was  armed  and  so  gave  the  door  a  vigorous  push,  catching 
Ward's  foot,  who  tried  to  hold  the  door  open.  But  Bliss  got  the  door  shut, 
and  then  Ward  gave  several  vigorous  kicks  against  it,  and  burst  out  with  a 
volley  of  profane  imprecations  against  Bliss.  Finally,  he  went  away  in  company 
with  another  young  man   waiting   for  him   at   the   gate  outside. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  in  May  or  June,  185  3,  for  some  grievous  breach 
of  discipline  in  the  Boys'  High  School  of  Louisville,  conducted  by  Professor 
William  H.  G.  Butler,  Professor  Sturgus,  incensed  beyond  endurance  by  the 
young  ruffian,  took  him  by  the  collar  of  the  coat,  shook  him  up  and  boxed 
his  jaws  soundly.  Thus  Mrs.  Ward,  mother  of  the  young  ruffian,  requested 
the  two  teachers  to  call  and  see  her  about  it.  William,  of  course,  had  made  a 
moving  appeal  to  parental  sympathy,  with  a  graphic  description  of  the  punish- 
ment inflicted. 


176 


FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


"What  do  you  mean  by  treating  a  Ward  in  such  a  manner?"  demanded 
the  angry  mother.  "I  send  my  children  to  Mr.  Butler  because  I  know  him  to 
be  a  gentleman,  and  if  they  need  correction,  I  expect  him  to  do  it,  for  he  will 
punish  in  a  gentlemanly  way.      But  as  for  you,   sir,   -    -    -,"   she  exploded. 

Professor  Sturgus  waited  till  the  first  outburst  of  wrath  was  over,  and  then 
gave  a  correct  account  of  the  affair  with  William.  Mrs.  Ward  thereupon  became 
calm,  seemed  entirely  satisfied,   and  answered: 


Prof.  Wm.  H.  G.  Butler  and  wife.  Younger  brother 
of  Noble  Butler.  Shot  down  in  his  High  School  at  Louis- 
ville in  1853  by  Matt  W'ard,  a  young-  aristocrat  whose 
juvenile  brother  had  been  punished  for  an  offense.  Matt 
Ward  was  defended  by  the  leading  attorneys  of  his  time, 
and  cleared  on  the  presumption  that  no  gentleman  could 
be  punished  for  murder  in  the  Old  South.  Prof.  Butler 
was  only  28  at  his  death — a  master  linguist  of  Ancient  and 
Modern  languages   and  a  most  noible   man. 


"I  am  sorry  for  the  violent  language  I  used  and  regret  very  much  that  our 
acquaintance  has  begun  in  so  unpleasant  a  manner.  I  hope  you  will  not  fail 
to  let   me  know   if   my   boys   misbehave,    and   I    will   correct    them." 

She  at  first  threatened  to  withdraw  her  sons  from  school,  but  the  two 
teachers  assured  her  so  readily  that  it  would  be  a  great  relief  to  them,  as  it 
would  probably  save  their  centain  expulsion  later  on.  anyway,  that  Mrs.  Ward 
demurred  at  her  own  proposition.  When  she  became  more  reasonable  they 
declared  further  as  teachers,  that  they  would  appreciate  any  co-operation  with 
the   parents   in    maintaining   discipline. 

"But  you  know,  Mrs.  Ward."  said  Professor  Sturgus.  "that  there  arc 
offenses  that  cannot  always  be  dealt  with  in  this  go-between  way,  but  must  be 
punished   on    the   spot    for   the    sake    of   discipline." 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN  177 

The  mother  made  no  objection  to  this,  and,  indeed,  the  two  teachers  regarded 
her  acquiescence  as  full  authority  to  Mr.  Butler,  at  least,  to  see  that  her  sons 
submitted  to  the  rules  of  the  High  School  and  were  to  be  disciplined  or  punished 
if  he  felt  they  must  have  it. 

But  just  at  this  point  her  son,  Matt  F.  Ward,  came  into  the  house  and  was 
introduced  to  Professor  Sturgus  by  Mr.  Butler.  The  young  man  fired  up  at 
once  and  said:  "It  is  a  good  thing  I  saw  you,  sir;  because  when  I  first  heard 
how  you  humiliated  my  brother  William,  I  intended  to  call  and  give  you  a 
thashing  myself.  It  was  only  the  fact  that  you  are  an  older  man  than  I  took 
you  to  be  that  saved  you   from  what  you  deserved  at   my  hands,   sir." 

This  rough  and  unceremonious  interruption  to  the  diplomacies,  so  well 
under  way,  put  the  teachers  once  more  on  their  guard.  Ward  was  called  out 
before  Professor  Sturgus  had  a  chance  to  reply  to  the  offensive  salutation;  and 
when  the  two  teachers  reached  the  sidewalk,  they  at  once  agreed  to  be  threatened 
and  troubled  no  longer  but  to  dismiss  the  young  ruffians  at  the  first  occasion 
of  further   misconduct. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  when  chestnuts  were  ripe,  William  and  Victor  Ward 
brought  them  to  school  regularly  to  eat  during  school  hours.  They  would 
even  be  caught  eating  during  recitation.  One  day  Professor  Butler  noticed  this 
and  accused  the  Ward  boys,  but  they  denied  the  charge.  When  school  was 
dismissed  that  afternoon  he  called  several  boys  and  proved  the  guilt  of  the 
Wards  in  their  own  presence. 

'I  will  excuse  you  this  time,  boys,"  he  said,  "but  the  next  time  you  repeat  it 
I   will   certainly  punish   you." 

On  the  morning  of  the  second  of  November  William  Ward  came  to  school 
with  his  pockets  full  of  chestnuts,  as  usual.  During  recitation  he  passed  them 
around  among  several  boys.  He  then  borrowed  a  knife  from  Henry  Johnson 
and  punctured  the  nuts,  which  he  passed  to  Algeron  Fisher.  Fisher  examined 
them  to  see  if  they  were  good,  as  he  suspected  a  trick.  But  he  ate  them  and 
threw  the  hulls  on  the  floor.  About  ten  minutes  afterward  Professor  Butler 
noticed   the   hulls   and   said: 

"Fisher,  have  you   been  eating  chestnuts  in  school?" 

"Yes,   sir."    answered   Fisher   with  downcast   eyes. 

"Did  you  bring  them  to  class  with  you?" 

"No,    sir,"    positively. 

"Did   somebody   give   them    to   you    in   class?" 

"Yes,   sir,"    reluctantly. 

"Who    gave   them    to    you,    Fisher?" 

"I  don't  like  to   tell   on   the  boys.   Professor." 

"But  you  know  the  rules  of  the  school,  Fisher,  and  I  must  have  order. 
Therefore  you   will   have  to   tell   who   gave   you   the   chestnuts." 

Another  boy  was  sent  for  the  strap,  which  was  the  usual  method  of  pun- 
ishment in  those  days.      Fisher   weakened  and  said  with  hesitation: 

"William    Ward    gave    me    the    chestnuts,     Professor." 

"Well,  Fisher,  I  must  punish  you  for  eating  them,  as  you  remember  well 
enough    what    I    told    you." 

"Yes,    sir;    I    do." 


178  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Professor  Butler  then  gave  Fisher  several  sharp,  but  not  severe,  licks  on 
the  legs  with  the  strap.  Fisher  felt  somewhat  resentful  at  this  and  said  with 
some  feeling: 

"Professor,  you  think  I  am  the  only  fellow  who  ate  the  nuts.  Just  look 
under  Johnson's  desk,  and  William  Ward's." 

"Have   you    been    eating   chestnuts,    too,    Johnson?"    asked    Professor    Butler. 

"Yes,    sir,"    answered    Johnson. 

"Did  William   Ward   give   them   to   you?" 

"Yes,  sir;   he  did." 

"Is    that    so,    William?" 

"I  gave  them  the  nuts  before  class  commenced,"   answered  Ward. 

"No,  sir,  he  did  not,  Professor,"  cried  Johnson  and  Fisher  together.  "He 
gave  them  to  us  in  the  class." 

"I   didn't,    any   such   a   thing!"    answered   Ward    angrily. 

But  the  testimony  of  the  boys  was  against  Ward,  and  Professor  Butler 
took  hold   of  him   saying: 

"William.    I    have   to   punish    you    for   telling   me   a   lie." 

Half  a  dozen  licks  on  the  legs  with  the  strap,  and  those  not  at  all  severe, 
was  the  extent  of  his  punishment.  But  he  took  up  his  hat  afterward  and  left 
the  school   room   shaking  his   head   and   saying: 

"That   was   a   cursed   mean   trick." 

Johnson  was  excused  from  punishment  because  he  was  a  new  student  and 
had  not  heard  the  rules  about  eating  chestnuts  in  school.  But  William  Ward 
headed    straight    for    home. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 


(J,  lit  Till  a r  ut -  "lin  v\t lieir  iBt^th^ 


Xj  Y\  ILLIAM  WARD  stayed  at  home   the   day   after  his  punishment   for   the 

/    I      I        chestnut   episode.      It   happened   that    Mr.    and    Mrs.    Ward,    the   father 

^J^J        and   mother,    with   their  son   Robert   were  in   Cincinnati   and   returned 

by    boat    to    Louisville    early    the    following    morning.       The    mother 

saw   at  once   that  William   was   out   of   school   and   noticed   his   offended   expression 

of  countenance. 

"What   is   the   matter,    Willie;    why   are   you    not   at   school?" 

"Matt   will    tell   you,"    answered    the   boy. 

"Yes,"  said  Matt,  "I  was  just  going  around  to  ask  Mr.  Butler  what  he 
means  by  this  treatment  of  William.  He  whipped  him  yesterday  and  called  him 
a    liar." 

"What?"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ward.  "William  Butler  whipped  Willie  Ward  and 
called  him   a   liar?" 

"Yes,"  continued  Matt,  "William  bought  some  chestnuts  and  had  some 
of  them  in  his  pockets  at  school  and  took  out  his  handkerchief  and  some  of 
them  came  out.  The  boys  asked  for  them  and  he  gave  some  away.  They  ate 
the  nuts  and  threw  the  hulls  on  the  floor  under  the  desks.  Butler  asked  who 
did  that.  One  boy  refused  to  tell.  Butler  sent  for  his  strap  and  asked  each 
one  in  turn.  They  accused  William  and  then  there  was  a  dispute  whether  he 
gave  the  nuts  before  or  after  the  class  was  called  to  order.  Butler  then  hauled 
William  out  in  the  floor,  saying  he  would  whip  him  for  giving  chestnuts  to  the 
boys  and   then   lying   about  it." 

"It  wasn't  the  whipping,  mother."  put  in  William  at  last.  "It  was  because 
he   called    me   a    liar." 

Mr.  Ward,  the  father,  was  in  his  room  shaving,  and  came  in  during  this 
conversation.  Inquring  what  was  the  matter,  he  was  informed  what  had 
happened  and  immediately  sent  a  servant  to  tell  Professor  Butler  to  send  the  books 
of  the  Ward  boys  home  and  to  tell  the  other  son.    Victor,   to  come  home  also. 

"Maybe   I   had   better   go   myself,"    said   Mr.    Ward   at    first. 

"No,"    answered    Matt,    "I    will    go    and    will    demand    an    apology    of    Butler 
in    the   presence   of   the   school    for    the    insult    he    has    offered    William.       Butler    is 
a   gentleman   and   will   see   the  justice   of   this." 
"  V'ery    well,"    agreed   Mr.    Ward. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Matt  Ward  was  looking  for  trouble  and  his 
mother    was    very    anxious. 

"See  here,  Matt,"  she  said,  "you  are  in  very  poor  health  and  cannot  stand 
excitement.  You  have  had  one  difficulty  with  Professor  Sturgus  and  you  had 
better  take  some  one   with   you." 


180  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Just  then  young  Robert  Ward,  who  had  been  out  in  the  conservatory 
since   they   came    from    the    boat,    entered    the    room. 

"Calm  yourself,  Matt,"  the  mother  was  saying.  Then  she  added:  "Here  is 
Bob,   let  him   go  with  you." 

Matt  answered  that  he  was  calm  and  told  Bob  with  some  impatience  to 
hurry   with   his   hat. 

"Remember  that  Sturgus  is  your  enemy.  Be  careful!"  said  Mrs.  Ward 
again.  Matt,  Bob  and  William  went  out  of  the  house  together.  When  they 
reached   the   yard   gate   Matt   told   Bob   where   they   were   going   and    what   for. 

"Butler  is  a  much  stouter  man  than  you,  Matt,"  said  William,  "and  Sturgus 
has   a   big   stick." 

"I  don't  think  I'll  have  any  difficulty,"  answered  Matt.  "Butler  is  a  gentle- 
man." Then  he  added  directly — "Don't  you  boys  interfere  unless  Butler  and 
Sturgus   both   attack    me    at    once." 

The  three  then  went  down  Third  Street.  Matt  stopped  in  the  store  of  a 
gunsmith  by  the  name  of  Gilmore.  He  examined  a  weapon  and  asked  the  price. 
He  then  added  that  if  Gilmore  would  load  it  he  would  take  it.  Gilmore  loaded 
the  pistol  and  handed  it  to  him.  There  were  a  pair  of  the  pistols,  mates,  and 
Matt,  after  a  moment's  hesitation,  decided  to  take  them  both,  and  had  them 
loaded.  They  were  self-action  weapons,  loaded  with  powder  and  ball  with  the 
cap  on  and  would  send  a  ball  through  an  inch  board  two  feet  away.  Ward  took 
the   pair   and    went   out. 

A  pupil  by  the  name  of  Knight  had  heard  William  and  Victor  Ward 
making  threats  after  the  punishment  the  day  before,  and  when  he  saw  the  three 
Ward  brothers  enter  the  gate  about  ten  o'clock  that  morning  he  expected  trouble. 
He  was  in  Professor  Sturgus'  room  but  he  got  up  and  went  to  the  door  opening 
into  the  larger  room.  The  other  boys  followed  and  the  whole  school  seemed 
aware  of  danger.  Professor  Sturgus,  however,  called  to  them  to  come  back  to 
their   seats. 

The  Wards  had  just  entered  through  the  passageway  and  were  in  the  main 
school  room.  Professor  Butler  was  coming  from  his  own  room.  They  asked 
for   him   and   waited   till   he   came   to   the   door.      He   spoke   pleasantly. 

"I    have    a    little    matter    to    settle    with    you.    Mr.    Butler."    said    Matt    Ward 
with  an  effort  to  appear  calm.      "I   want  to  have  a  little  talk   with   you." 
"Come   into   my  private   room   here,"    answered    Butler. 
"No."    said   Matt,    "here   is    the   place."      Butler    nodded    his    head. 
"I    want    to    know    your    ideas    of    justice,"    continued    Matt.       "Who    is    the 
most    to    blame,    the    contemptible    little    puppy    who    begged    chestnuts    and    then 
lied  about  it,   or  the  boy  who  let  him  have  them?" 

"Come  into  my  room  and  I  will  explain  the  whole  affair."  insisted  Butler. 
But   Ward    replied,    "No.    sir.    here    is    the    place    to    answer    my    question." 

Butler   still   declined   to   have   a   controversy   in    the   presence   of   the   school. 
"Then   why   did   you   call    my   brother   William    a   liar'"    asked   Ward   angrily. 
"I    will    not    answer   your   questions   here    without   a    chance    to    explain.    I    tell 
you,"    replied    Butler. 

"Then  you  arc  a  cursed  liar  and  a  cursed  scoundrel  yourself!"  cried  Ward 
in  a  rage,  with  a  motion  as  if  to  strike  Butler,  who  moved  back  a  few  steps. 
Recovering  himself  he  moved  toward  Ward  with  his  right  arm  raised  as  if  to 
strike    in    resentment    of    the    insult.       Ward    then    drew    his    right    hand    from    his 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


181 


pocket,  presented  a  pistol  at  Butler's  left  breast  and  fired.  Butler  dropped  to 
the   floor   immediately   with   this   exclamation: 

"Oh,    my   wife  and  child!      My   God,    I'm   dead!" 

Ward  then  drew  another  pistol,  and  young  Bob  drew  a  knife.  Professor 
Sturgus   rushed   up   and   Bob  Ward   said, 

"Come  on,   I'm  ready!" 

Sturgus  retreated  to  his  room  but  directly  returned  and  again  Bob  advanced 
toward  him  with  his  knife.  Sturgus  ran  back  into  his  room  and  climbed  out 
of  the  window  to  give  the  alarm.  The  Ward  brothers  then  left  the  school 
house  and  passed   rapidly   out   of   the   front   gate. 


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Noble  Butler  of  Louisville,  Hanover  College  graduate. 
Author  >oif  the  Butler  Grammar  and  Readers.  An  English 
critic  said  that  the  best  English  in  America  was  spoken 
in  Louiisviille  because  of  Prof.  Butler's  work.  Prof.  But'Jer 
grew  up  in  tlhe  vicinity  of  the  Hoosier  School  Master.  He 
afterward  taught  Mary  Anderson  her  first  lessons  in 
Shakespeare. 


The  pistol  seemed  to  stick  in  the  wound  in  Professor  Butler's  breast  and 
he  knocked  it  aside  when  he  struggled  to  his  feet.  He  stepped  into  Professor 
Sturgus's  room,  and  finding  nobody  there,  left  the  school  building  and  endeavored 
to  walk  away  in  search  of  medical  relief.  Some  of  the  boys  went  with  him 
and  supported  him  as  best  they  could.  He  only  went  a  square  and  then  asked 
to  lie  down.  They  then  carried  him  to  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Martha  Harney 
on   Chestnut   between   First   and   Second   Streets. 

Mrs.  Harney  was  downtown  at  the  time  and  saw  Professor  Sturgus  on 
Third  street  very  much  agitated  and  learned  what  was  the  matter.  She  hastened 
home  and  found  Mr.  Butler  lying  on  a  rug  in  the  parlor.  The  house  was  full 
of  people.  Dr.  Thompson  had  been  called  and  reached  the  house  at  10:20  o'clock. 
The  boys   were  holding   Mr.    Butler   up. 

"Let    him    lie   down,    boys,"    said    the   doctor. 

"Doctor  don't  you   think   I'm  a  dead   man?"   gasped   Mr.    Butler  in   agony. 


182  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

The  doctor  removed  his  coat,  tore  open  his  shirt  and  examined  the  wound 
in   the  breast.      The  surface  around   was   burnt. 

"What   was  your  position   when   you    were  shot,    Mr.    Butler?"   he   asked. 

Professor  gave  some  words  of  explanation  and  then  the  doctor  probed  the 
wound.  The  patient  was  very  anxious  and  insisted  that  there  was  no  hope  for 
him.  The  doctor  tried  to  cheer  him  up,  but  Mr.  Butler  gave  directions  about 
his  wife  and  child.  Dr.  Yandell  also  arrived  and  assisted,  and  the  dying  man 
told  the  same  story  of  the  trouble.  Mrs.  Harney  talked  to  him  a  few  minutes 
later  on  and  his  wife  and  child  came  into  the  room.  It  was  very  touching  to 
witness  the  scene  between  them.  He  gradually  sank  until  after  midnight  when 
he   passed    away. 

Matt  Ward  and  his  brother  Robert  were  arrested  and  locked  in  jail  to  await 
trial  for  murder  in  the  first  degree.  Counsel  for  the  defense  made  a  motion 
before  Judge  Bullock  for  a  change  of  venue  on  account  of  the  reported  excite- 
ment and  prejudice  against  the  prisoners  in  Louisville  and  the  judge  decided  for 
the  defense.  The  Wards  were  accordingly  removed  to  Elizabethtown.  Hardin 
County,  to  stand  trial  on  the  third  Monday  in  April,  1854.  This  stirring  trial 
attracted  such  crowds  and  aroused  such  intense  interest  throughout  the  country 
that  it  soon  became  famous.  Some  of  the  most  noted  legal  talent  in  the  South 
and  Middlewest  appeared  on  both  sides  and  the  principles  discussed  had  an 
immense  influence  on  the  course  of  events  that  followed  after.  Thus  in  one 
incident  of  a  school  room  the  whole  tragedy  of  history  was  enacted  to  that 
generation. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 


9  ^B  ^  ^ 


f^^T^™^  HE   following  account  of  the  verdict   in   the  noted  Ward-Butler   tragedy 
|     I  *^  and    how    it    was    received    in    Louisville,    taken    from    the    old    record 

V  I  J  of  the  trial,   brings  back   the  awful   event  most  vividly: 

^^  The    Ward    case    was    committed    to    the    Jury    about    5    o'clock 

p.    m.    on   Wednesday,    and   on   Thursday    morning   about    9    o'clock,    they    returned 
a   verdict   of   not   guilty,    as   charged    in   the   indictment. 

The  news  of  this  verdict  was  received  in  the  city  of  Louisville,  as  it  has 
since  been  throughout  the  State  of  Kentucky,  and  over  the  entire  Union,  with 
the  greatest  indignation.  In  Louisville,  especially,  where  it  was  published  on  the 
morning  of  Friday,  April  28,  1854,  the  excitement  immediately  produced  was 
intense.  But  little  business  was  done  on  that  day  or  the  next.  All  men  seemed 
to  think  that  an  idelible  stain  had  been  fixed  upon  the  fair  fame  of  the  State, 
by  the  mockery  of  a  trial  that  had  been  had,  and  the  iniquitous  verdict  that 
had  been  rendered,  and  the  oldest,  most  substantial,  and  most  respected  citizens, 
demanded  a  public  meeting,  that  the  City  of  Louisville  might  cleanse  itself  of 
the  disgrace  that  would  otherwise  rest  upon  it.  In  the  newspapers  of  Saturday 
morning  appeared  the  following: 

NOTICE — A  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Louisville,  favorable  to  the  erection 
of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late  lamented  PROFESSOR  BUTLER,  is  re- 
quested at  the  court  house,   on  Saturday  evening,   April    29,   at   early   gas  light. 

Pursuant  to  this  call,  the  largest  and  most  respectable  assemblage  that  has 
ever  convened  in  the  city,  gathered  within  and  around  the  court  house  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  evening.  The  number  present  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  from  eight  to  twelve  thousand.  The  west  room  in  the  second  story  of  the 
building  was  filled  at  a  very  early  hour.  Several  old,  universally  known,  and 
generally  esteemed  citizens  had  been  requested  to  act  as  officers,  but  the  press 
was  so  great  that  the  principal  of  them  could  not  effect  an  entrance  to  join 
those  who  were  earlier  in  their  attendance.  Some  delay  in  effecting  the  organiza- 
tion was  thus  induced,  and  during  its  continuance,  Sherrod  Williams,  on  request, 
addressed  the  meeting.  Mr.  Williams  fully  recognized  the  justice  of  the  indignant 
feeling  that  had  moved,  as  it  were,  a  whole  community,  and  expressed  his  own 
deep  sympathy  with  it,  but  depreciated  violence  against  person  or  property,  and 
besought  people  to  content  themselves  with  a  warm  and  decided  expression  of 
their  sentiments  with  reference  to  the  crime  that  had  been  committed,  and  the 
mockery  of  a  trial  that  had  been  had  of  its  guilty  perpetrator.  Mr.  Williams  was 
listened  to  with  the  most  respectful  attention;  but  the  crowd  outside,  which  was 
continually  augmented  by  fresh  arrivals,  became  impatient  to  know  what  was 
going  on  within.  It  was  therefore  agreed  to  go  below;  but  when  most  of  those 
who   were   upstairs   had   got   down,    anything   like   a   satisfactory    organization    there 


184  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

was  found  to  be  impossible.  It  was  therefore  proclaimed  that  the  regular  meeting 
would  organize  above,  and  that  after  resolutions  should  be  reported  and  passed, 
they   would  be  sent  down   for  ratification. 

So  soon  as  the  resolutions  were  passed,  the  committee  retired  with  them 
to  the  crowd  below,  where  they  were  read  by  Sherrod  Williams,  and  carried  with 
equal  unanimity.  After  the  committee  left  the  meeting  above,  resolutions  were 
moved  and  carried,  requesting  the  two  Wards  to  leave  the  city,  inviting  Nat  Wolfe 
to  resign  his  seat  in  the  State  Senate  and  follow  them,  and  requesting  John  J. 
Crittenden  to  resign  his  place  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  which  he  was 
elected  by   the  Legislature   of  Kentucky   last   winter. 

By  a  portion  of  the  immense  crowd  outside,  another  meeting  was  organized, 
by  which  another  series  of  resolutions  was  passed,  equally  condemnatory  in  their 
tone  with  those  passed  by  the  regular  meeting  in  the  Court  House,  as  to  the  trial 
and  the  verdict,  and  much  more  sweeping  in  their  references  to  individuals  who 
had  rendered  themselves  obnoxious  in  different  ways,  by  their  connection  with 
the  trial,   several  of  whom  were  singled  out  by   name,   for  public  censure. 

By  a  large  number  of  persons  in  the  Court  House  yard,  after  the  regular 
meeting  in  the  west  room  had  adjourned,  effigies  were  hung  up  and  burned,  of 
Matt  F.  Ward,  Barlow,  (the  false  witness),  the  members  of  the  Hardin  county 
jury,  and  a  number  of  other  persons,  who,  by  their  acts,  had  subjected  them- 
selves  to   the  deep   displeasure   of   the   people   of   Louisville. 

Earlier  in  the  evening  a  crowd  of  men  and  boys  gathered  in  front  and  at 
one  side  of  the  private  residence  of  Robert  J.  Ward,  doing  considerable  damage 
to  the  conservatory  with  stones,  and  with  the  same  missiles  breaking  some  of 
the  front  windows.  While  this  was  going  on,  effigies  of  Matt  and  young  Robert 
Ward,  were  strung  up  in  front  of  the  door.  These  were  afterwards  set  afire, 
when  some  person  unknown  caught  one  of  them  up  and  threw  it  against  the 
front  door,  which  was  thus  set  on  fire.  The  alarm  was  at  once  given:  several 
engines  were  soon  upon  the  spot,  and  after  encountering  a  somewhat  decided  but 
by  no  means  stubborn  opposition  from  the  men  and  boys  near  the  house,  the 
flames    were    extinguished. 

As  the  closing  sheets  of  this  report  go  to  press,  a  week  has  passed  since 
these  occurrences  took  place.  No  one  pretends  to  defend  or  excuse  the  lawless 
depredations  committed  upon  the  private  residence  of  Robert  J.  Ward:  every 
good  man  condemns  them  as  wrong,  uncalled  for,  and  reprehensible:  but  the 
heart  of  the  whole  city  beats  with  one  pulse  and  nobly  responds  to  the  manly, 
decided  and  conservative  tone  of  the  series  of  resolutions  embodied  in  this  closing 
narrative,   as  passed  by   the  meeting  of  citizens  held  in   the  court   house. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 


Jt   Wlmizt   %®\   M&hc   ;HHU|   %*nh& 


^9^^**  HE  following  appeal  to  the  State  of  Indiana  to  build  a  Noble 
■  1"^  Memorial  Community  House  at  Old  Vernon  Town  leaves  on  eternal 
%.  I  J  record   the   dream   of   our   soul   for   the   rising    generations. 

•f  In    April,     1918,    before    George    A.    H.    Shideler    came    to    the 

Indiana  reformatory  at  Jeffersonville  as  superintendent,  there  was  a  great  English 
school  head  who  lost  his  oldest  son  of  wounds  after  the  battle  of  the  Lys. 
This  father  had  grieved  and  distressed  himself  over  the  loss  of  other  pupils  and 
colleagues,  but  this  last  blow  struck  home  because  his  oldest  son  was  in  training 
as  his  successor.  The  Sunday  following  was  White  Sunday — White  Sunday,  he 
called  it,  "white,  pure,  untainted — day  of  consolation — day  of  inspiration — per- 
haps the  most  joyous  of  all  the  year."  So  he  spoke  to  his  pupils  from  the 
text:    "I   will   not  leave   you   desolate;    I   will   come   to   you." 

So  there  grew  up  in  the  mind  of  this  great  school  man  the  idea  of  a  build- 
ing that  should  symbolize  and  embody  the  whole  aim  and  purpose  of  his  school 
and  the  community  to  be  of  which  it  was  the  germ  and  beginning.  There  was 
no  other  school  just  like  his  in  all  England.  It  was  a  school  for  boys  and 
youth  conducted  on  lines  that  revealed  to  each  one  a  vision  of  himself  and  his 
work  in  the  world  and  stimulated  the  entire  student  body  to  co-operate,  rather 
than  compete  with  each  other,  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  the  growth 
of   character. 

The  Memorial  chapel  was  intended  to  be  a  house  of  vision  and  service, 
not  only  to  commemorate  the  sacrifice  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  the  world 
war,  but  where  the  pupils  could  go  apart  for  meditation  and  resolve  as  to  their 
own  future  place  in  society.  It  so  happens  that  a  wealthy  friend  of  this  great 
schoolmaster  had  also  lost  a  son  at  Ypres  and  in  their  mutual  agony  and  grief 
projected  this  unique  and  beautiful  building  to  symbolize  for  all  time  to  come 
the  sacrifice  and  service  of  all  heroic   youth. 

FOR  RANK  AND  FILE 

Something  like  a  year  before  Mr.  Shideler's  death  this  great  schoolmaster 
d:ed  suddenly  while  delivering  an  address  at  University  College,  London.  It  was 
said  of  him  that  he  worked  for  the  rank  and  file  as  against  the  star  system 
of  school  work  where  a  few  boys  carry  off  all  the  honors  and  leave  behind 
them  a   mass  of  neglected  shirkers  and  discouraged   competitors. 

That  was  precisely  Mr.  Shideler's  conception  of  reformatory  work  with 
fallen  youth.  He  stood  for  the  rank  and  file  "who  had  thrown  a  shoe  in  the 
race  of  life,  "  as  he  put  it,  and  his  sole  aim  and  purpose  was  to  give  them  an 
equal    chance    to    "come    back"    with    the    rest.       Being    himself    a    graduate    of    the 


186  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

"school  of  hard  knocks,"  as  he  liked  to  say,  he  understood  the  discouraged  and 
defeated  youth  as  few  men  did.  Many  times  he  would  shake  a  lad  at  the  night 
interviews  who  had  lost  his  confidence  and  then  send  the  chaplain  after  the 
fellow    the   next    day    to    get    a    grip    on    himself. 

It  was  his  custom  once  each  month  to  have  a  talk  with  the  new  arrivals 
in  his  office.  Big  and  little,  black  and  white,  home  and  foreign,  high  or  low, 
rich  or  poor,  wise  or  ignorant,  they  all  got  to  see  "the  big  fellow  out  front," 
as  he  called  himself.  The  substance  of  those  talks  was  necessarily  the  same  most 
of  the  time,  but  Mr.  Shideler  was  original  and  direct  and  ready  on  these  occasions. 
He   reminded   us   of   the   great   English   schoolmaster   talking   to   his   pupils. 

When  Mr.  Shideler  became  too  heavily  taxed  to  continue  the  monthly 
talks  to  the  new  arrivals,  he  passed  the  work  over  to  us  and  to  his  bandmaster, 
Prof.  Henry  Dreyer,  who  had  learned  to  meet  the  reformatory  freshmen  much 
as  the  superintendent  himself  did.  The  meeting  took  place  in  the  chapel  before 
the  morning  service  or  immediately  after  and  it  was  a  vital  thing  to  have  access 
to  the  lads  before  they  became  prison  hardened.  Mr.  Shideler  was  practical  in 
his  conception  of  religious  work  and  service  among  prisoners.  He  stood  for 
the  essentials  of  the  faith  and  the  meat  and  marrow  of  the  gospel  made  simple 
and   appealing   to    "the   fellow    far   out   at   sea."    as   he   put   it. 

GEORGE   SHIDELER'S   DREAM 

He  was  tremendously  strong  for  the  Salvation  Army  message  and  organ- 
ization and  the  Brighter  Day  League  training  classes  at  Jeffersonville  became 
known  in  Army  circles  all  over  the  world.  During  our  last  five  years  at  Jeffer- 
sonville we  worshipped  in  a  big  restored  cell  house  upper  floor,  which  was  a 
combined  chapel  hall  and  picture  show.  So  it  became  Mr.  Shideler's  dream  that 
when  we  removed  to  Pendleton  he  could  build  a  house  of  vision  and  service, 
surmounted  by  a  tower  containing  the  sweet-toned  church  bell  of  his  old  home 
town,  that  used  to  call  him  to  church  and  Sunday  School  when  he  was  a  boy. 
He  talked  about  this  building  a  great  deal,  much  as  did  the  English  schoolmaster. 
Mr.  Shideler's  tragic  death  ended  the  dream,  for  the  while  at  least.  His  suc- 
cessors have  been  loyal  to  his  vision  and  devoted  to  his  ideal,  but  we  all  missed 
and    mourned   him    as    tongue    never    could    tell. 

We  were  compelled  to  separate  ourselves  from  Mr.  Shideler  in  the  fall  of 
1923,  when  the  reformatory  was  moved  to  Pendleton  because  we  were  making 
a  home  for  our  parents  near  Louisville  and  we  returned  to  our  former  work 
with  the  Presbyterian  church  of  southern  Indiana  in  the  field  of  home  missions 
and  social  service.  The  churches  at  North  Vernon  and  Old  Vernon  were  com- 
bined and  a  typical  rural  church  added  on  Sunday  afternoon.  Now  there  was 
a  greater  work  of  social  prevention  that  Mr.  Shideler  was  forever  insisting  must 
be  done  by  the  home  and  church,  the  school  and  community,  to  save  the  youth 
of  the  state  and  nation.  He  had  normal,  promising  sons  of  his  own.  whose 
education  and  upbringing  and  companionship  meant  everything  to  him.  He  was 
a  great  enthusiast  over  the  games  they  loved  and  the  college  fraternities  they 
belonged  to.  He  constantly  told  the  boys  within  the  walls  to  "play  the  game 
of  life  on  the  square"  and  they  trusted  "the  big  fellow  out  front"  as  a  "fifty- 
fifty"    man. 


PAGEANT  EPISODES  OF  OLD  VERNON  TOWN 


187 


Hence,  on  resuming  our  social  prevention  work,  especially  at  the  lovely 
and  classical  little  town  of  Vernon,  we  conceived  the  passionate  hope  of  building 
a  community  house  of  vision  and  service  where  our  boys  and  girls,  so  typical 
and  prophetic  of  the  coming  century,  may  play  the  games  and  present  the 
pageants  that  will  teach  and  transform  them  into  heroic  men  and  women.  We 
have  desired  with  all  the  intensity  of  prayer  to  build  this  community  house  as 
a  memorial  to  Mr.  Shideler,  and  to  do  there  the  sort  of  work  that  should  be 
done  in  every  town  and  hamlet  all  over  Indiana.  This  community  house  would 
stand  on  the  hilltop  of  lovely  little  Vernon  town,  between  the  Presbyterian 
church  and  the  high  school,  on  the  state  highway  to  Madison,  where  thousands  of 
tourists  pass  each  year  to  visit  the  scenes  and  haunts  of  Edward  Eggleston's 
stories. 


GEORGE    A.    H.    SHIDELER 
Holding-    his    famous    interviews    with    prisoners. 


This  is  the  centennial  year  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Vernon  and  this 
great  denomination  wishes  to  commemorate  its  heroic  history  in  southern  Indiana 
with  a  home-coming  in  August  that  will  draw  hundreds  and  thousands  from  all 
over  the  country.  The  old  church  was  founded  in  May,  1825,  by  the  Rev. 
John  Finley  Crowe,  who  afterward  helped  to  establish  Hanover  College  down  on 
the  Ohio  River.  Colleges  like  Hanover  and  schools  like  the  one  at  Vernon  were 
the  most  powerful  counteracting  agencies  of  the  border  barbarism  and  the  back- 
woods lawlessness  depicted  by  Mr.  Eggleston  in  "The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster." 
He  saw  all  this  with  his  own  eyes  in  Decatur  and  Ripley  counties  far  back  in 
the  fifties.  Yet  he  believed  profoundly  in  the  elemental  manliness  and  the 
inborn  nobility  of  such  characters  as  Bud  Means,  who  stepped  from  the  kingdom 
of  Muscle  to  the  kingdom  of  Mind  when  he  struck  hands  with  his  teacher, 
Ralph    Hartsook    and   organized    "The   Church    of    the    Best    Licks." 


188  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

"Jesus  Christ  was  a  sort  of  a  Flat  Cricker  Himself,  wasn't  He?"  said 
Bud  to  Ralph  and  the  Hoosier  schoolmaster  answered  that  our  Lord  did  come 
out  of  "No-Good  Nazareth."  Now  it  was  in  precisely  that  fashion  that  "the 
meek  and  lowly  Nazarene,"  as  Mr.  Shideler  loved  to  call  him.  gripped  the 
hearts  of  our  boys  in  "The  City  of  Dead  Souls"  at  Jeffersonville.  So  we  always 
called  our  chapel   meeting  house  down   there    "The  Church   of   the   Best   Licks." 

George  Carey  Eggleston  confesses  that  even  his  brother  Edward  shrank  from 
being  confounded  with  his  own  "Hoosier  Schoolmaster'"  for  in  commissioning 
his  brother  George  to  write  his  biography  after  he  was  gone,  Edward  asked  George 
to  correct  the  prevailing  impression  that  he  was  born  and  grew  up  amid  the 
ignorance,  poverty  and  rudeness  of  the  Hoosier  backwoods.  And  now  that  the 
scenes  and  haunts  of  the  Hoosier  schoolmaster  country  around  Madison  are 
drawing  so  many  thousands  of  tourists  each  year,  it  is  a  matter  of  no  small 
interest  and  importance  to  point  out  these  counteracting  spiritual  and  social 
influences  that  slowly  transformed  the  brutal  barbarism  of  those  times  into  the 
homely  and  the  human.  George  Carey  Eggleston  insists  that  their  home  in  boy- 
hood was  such  an  influence  and  Dr.  J.  N.  Hurty  says  his  father  was  a  fighter 
for  free  schools  in  southern  Indiana,  when  education  was  condemned  by  the  whole 
tribe    of    frontier    ruffianism. 

A   NEW    GENERATION 

Ten  years  previous  to  our  chaplaincy  at  Jeffersonville.  we  covered  Clark 
and  Jackson  counties  as  a  rural  and  small-town  pastor  and  had  abundant  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  surviving  story  and  tradition  of  the  Reno  brothers  ana 
other  Jesse  James  types  of  long  ago.  We  had  in  our  possession  the  only  known 
copy  of  John  Reno's  autobiography  and  in  the  very  same  social  environment 
that  encouraged  and  developed  the  Renos  before,  during  and  after  the  civil  war, 
there  sprang  up  a  new  generation  that  made  our  Boy  and  Girl  Scout  work 
memorable  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  ago.  Each  community  was  to  us  a  social 
laboratory  and  out  of  these  experiences  and  types  we  produced  a  pageant  of  the 
American  Red  Cross  in  song  and  story.  To  this  has  been  added  more  memor- 
able work  covering  the  reformatory  heroes  and  heroines  of  Indiana  history  from 
Jonathan  Jennings  to  George  A.  H.  Shideler. 

In  our  new  community  house  at  Vernon  we  propose  to  perpetually  teach 
and  train  each  growing  generation  of  boys  and  girls  in  the  social  graces  and  the 
civic  virtues  by  means  of  this  same  pageant  impersonation  and  community 
drama.  We  even  dream  of  making  Vernon  something  of  a  miniature  town  like 
Oberammergau,  where  the  "Passion  Play"  is  given.  The  village  church  has 
served  thus  far  as  our  only  training  school.  There  is  no  auditorium  or  hall  at 
the  high  school.  The  townspeople,  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  returning 
Vernon  homecomers  are  going  to  do  all  in  their  power  for  the  new  community 
house,  which  we  hope  to  start  in  May  and  dedicate  in  August  or  September. 
We  are  asking  each  and  every  friend  and  admirer  of  Mr.  Shideler  to  help  make 
this  a  worthy  memorial.  The  First  National  Bank  of  Vernon  will  receive  and 
credit  every  donation  and  if  the  enterprise  is  not  sufficiently  supported  to 
put    it    over,    every    dollar    will    be    returned. 


REV.  THORNTON  WHALING,  D.D.  LL.  D. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 


By  Thornton  Whaling,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


^mb^  HE  WRITER  is  a  scion  of  the  Old  South  since  he  was  born  in  Vir- 
g    I  «^  ginia    in    185  8    and    educated    at    a    Southern    college    and    university 

m^  I      1  where  the  historic  ideals  and  traditions  which  dominated  the   "Mother 

^Ji  °f  States  and  Presidents"   were  supreme  and  regnant.      In  addition   to 

this  environment  his  heredity  is  rooted  in  an  ancestry  which  for  more  than  two 
centuries  have  lived  in  and  served  the  "Old  Dominion"  in  many  different  capaci- 
ties both  official  and  otherwise.  In  attempting  some  interpretation  of  the  ante 
bellum  South  he  is  using  his  own  vernacular  as   "one  to  the  manner  born." 

There  has  been  widespread  misunderstanding  of  the  spirit  and  temper  which 
controlled  the  life  and  thought  of  the  State  where,  in  1607,  were  first  planted 
the  seeds  of  Western  Civilization,  culture,  and  religion.  It  has  been  regarded  as 
the  seat  of  a  narrow  and  prejudiced  aristocracy  which  reigned  from  the  throne 
of  absolutism  over  all  the  activities  of  its  citizens  and  subjects,  relegating  "poor 
whites"  and  Negroes  alike  not  only  to  a  position  of  inferiority,  but  condemning 
them  to  the  realm  of  abject  subjection,  in  which  everything  was  forgotten  save 
the  service  which  they  could  render  to  this  tyrannical  and  self-absorbed  aris- 
tocracy. 

It  is  strange  to  think  thus  of  the  State  which  produced  Washington.  Jeffer- 
son, Marshall,  Madison  and  Monroe.  In  a  sense  every  one  of  these  men  were 
wise  and  instructed  democrats,  who  had  in  view  the  interests  of  the  entire  popu- 
lation and  citizenship  of  State  and  country.  The  words  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  written  by  a  Virginian,  were  true  to  the  convictions  of  his  native 
State,  "all  men  are  born  free  and  equal."  The  white  population  of  the  State 
was  composed  of  elect  immigrants  of  the  best  stocks.  English  and  Scotch,  with 
a  generous  ^intermixture  of  French  Hugenots.  Germans  from  the  Palatinate.  Dutch 
and  Scotch-Irish,  and  there  was  no  room  for  a  real  aristocracy.  The  presence 
of  slavery  somewhat  confuses  the  situation;  but  there  were  four  views  of  the 
South  itself  as  to  the  institution.  First:  some  of  the  most  thoughtful  regarded 
it  as  immoral  in  its  very  essence;  second,  others  were  convinced  it  was  an  economic 
evil  which  hindered  industrial  development;  third,  others  thought  it  a  providen- 
tial movement  for  the  Christianizing  of  a  race  whose  final  results  would  justifv 
it;  fourth,  abolitionists,  by  peaceful  rather  than  military  methods,  spoke  out  their 
convictions  with  perfect  freedom  and  tolerance.  The  institution,  while  capable  of 
abuse,  was  of  the  mildest  type  perhaps  ever  developed  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
I  remember  the  resentment  of  my  own  Old  Black  Mammy.  Aunt  Becky,  at  the 
interference  of  the  North  and  her  indignant  questions  as  Yankee  troops  marched 
and  remarched  through  the  village  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia.  "What  bizness  dese 
hcah  folks  got  comin'  down  heah  boddcrin'  wid  us  as  to  what  we  chooses  to  do 
wid    one    anuther?      Dey    better    go    back    whar   dey    cum    fum    ore    we'll    kill    sum 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN    THE   NEW 


191 


more  uv  'em."  When  told  she  was  free  by  my  mother,  her  reply  was:  "What's 
free  anyhow?  I'se  jus'  as  free  as  I  chooses  ter  be;  and  I'se  gwine  ter  stay  right 
heah   jus'    like    I'se    alius    done;    dat's    what." 

Stonewall  Jackson  and  General  Lee  were  finest  representatives  of  the  true 
Old  South.  The  great  Stonewall  was  a  deacon  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Lexington,  Va.,  of  which  I  was  pastor  for  ten  years-  He  taught  a  Negro  Sunday 
School  in  the  lecture  room  of  the  classic  church  in  this  cultured  town;  and  some 
of  the  choicest  people  of  town  and  church  helped  him.  Prof.  Nelson,  for  fifty 
years  professor  in  Washington  and  Lee  University,  was  one  of  his  assistants.  He 
tells  me  on  one  occasion  Stonewall  was  reviewing  the  lesson   in   which   the  Biblical 


REV.    SAMUEL   DAVIES,    D.    P. 

President    of    Princeton    College 

It  was  this  great  Presbyterian  preacher  o£  Colonial  days  in  Old  Virginia 
who  pointed  out  George  Washington  as  the  hope  of  his  country  after  Brad  - 
dock's  defeat  in  1755.  It  was  Washington's  unexpected  victory  in  the  Battle 
of  Princeton,  January  1,  1777,  that  gave  new  courage  to  the  disheartened 
American  army.  It  was  also  at  Princeton  that  General  Washington  reverently 
participated  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  with  the  Presbyterian 
congregation.  And  at  the  Princeton  College  Commencement  of  1783,  when 
the  Congress  and  General  Washington  were  present,  upon  the  platform,  Ashbel 
Green,  classi  valedictorian,  paid  a  glowing  and  eloquent  tribute  to  the  Father 
of  his  Country,  which  greatly  embarrassed  but  deeply  gratified  Washington.; 
Next  day  he  met  young  Green  in  the  corridor  and  expressed  hearty  wishes 
for  his  future.  Though  a  devout  Episcopalian,  Washington  felt  the  warmest 
attachment  to  the  Presbyterian  people  for  their  loyalty  in  the  greats  Revolu- 
tionary  struggle. 

Samuel  Davies  was  the  pastor  of  Patrick  Henry  in  youth  and  was  his 
model  of  eloquence  and  democracy  as  well  as  of  godly  character.  He  was 
also  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  to  teach  the  slaves  religious  truth,  wont 
for  their  conversion,  and  receive  them  into  full  Christian',  fellowship.  He  rep- 
resents the  first  great  Revolution  that  brought  us  the  freedom  of  the  middle 
classes    of    America    and    Europe. 


passage  occurs  that  "His  fan  is  in  His  Hand,  and  with  it  He  shall  thoroughly 
purge  His  threshing  floor;"  and  the  questioner  asked,  "Who  has  the  fan?"  The 
answer  came  "The  Lord."  "What  does  He  do  with  it?"  was  the  next  ques- 
tion, but  no  answer  came.  The  question  was  asked  again  and  again.  At  last 
Old  Uncle  Jerry  volunteered,  "I  knows;"  and  he  was  invited  to  tell.  "Fan  His- 
self    wid    it,    suh."      Stonewall    replied,    "Tut,    tut,    you    know    better    than    that." 


192 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


Prof.  Nelson  addded,  "tut,  tut"  is  the  nearest  to  profanity  Stonewall  ever  came. 
Mrs.  Jackson,  in  her  charming  book  on  her  husband,  tells  us  that  her  husband 
always  had  the  servants  and  slaves  at  family  worship,  and  himself  carefully  taught 
them  the  Catechism  and  the  truths  of  the  Christian  religion.  General  Jackson's 
practical  interest  in  the  Negro  is  an  exposition  of  the  South;  and  no  one  under- 
stands the  "brother  in  black"  so  well  and  loves  him  so  truly  as  do  the  real  sons 
of  both  the  Old  or  the  New  South.  If  I  were  a  Negro  I  would  rather  live 
in  Richmond,  Columbia  or  Louisville  than  in  New  York.   Philadelphia  or  Chicago. 


REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON,  D.  D. 
As  President  of  Princeton  College  during-  the  Revolution,  and  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Continental  Congress  and  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, John  Witherspoon  was  very  close  to  George  Washington  in  the  great 
struggle,  Then  as  a  member  of  the  first  American  General  Assembly,  in 
1789,  when  Washington  had  assumed  the  Presidency  of  the  New  Republic. 
Dr.  Witherspoon  preached1  the  opening  sermon  and  was  a  member  of  a  com- 
mittee to  address  a  letter  of  congratulation  and  patriotic  loyalty  to 
the  Father  of  our  Country.  Washington  replied  with  deepest  reciprocation; 
and  in  after  years  proved  his  further  appreciation  of  the  Presbyterian  people 
by  contributing  liberally  to  their  educational  institutions,  notably  the  acad- 
emies which  later  grew  into  Washington  and  Lee  University  and  Centre  Col- 
lege. These  facts  are  not  given  in  a  sectarian,  spirit  but  to  prove  Washing- 
ton's loyalty  to  religion  and  education.  He  was  to  Liberty  and  Union  then 
what  Lincoln  was  in  our  second  great  Revolution  —  the  war  that  ended 
slavery. 

The  American  and  French  Revolutions  won  the  freedom  of  the  middle 
classes  in  Europe  and  America.  In  the  armies  that  followed  Washington 
to  battle  were  men  who  felt  the  call  of  universal  liberty  to  all  mankind. 
Some  of  these  noble  dreamers  were  humble  Baptist,  Methodist  and  Presby- 
terian believers\  who  afterward  included  in  their  dream  of  freedom  the  dis- 
inherited and  disfranchised  white  working  people  and  the  Negro  slave.  Thus 
they  became  Forerunners  of/  the  Civil  War  which  liberated  the  working  classes 
of  the    new    world. 


Gen.  Lee,  the  flawless  gentleman  and  Virginian,  represents  his  State  and  sec- 
tion. The  struggle  through  which  he  passed  before  deciding  where  his  allegiance 
was  first  due  showed  his  profound  love  for  his  Country  and  the  Union,  although 
duty,  which  he  said  is  "the  sublimcst  word  in  the  language,"  led  him  to  side 
with  his  native  State.  The  folly  of  a  war  forced  on  by  extremists  and  stubborn 
reactionaries,  chiefly  in  the  North,  pained  him  to  the  depths  of  his  soul.  It  is 
well   known    that   he   was   more   than    willing    for   an    abolition    of   slavery    pursued 


THE    OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  193 

by  peaceful  methods,  as  was  George  Washington  and  other  leaders,  who  saw 
injury  as  the  certain  result  of  transferring  slavery  from  the  North,  where  it 
evidently  did  not  pay  in  dollars  and  cents,  to  the  South  where  for  a  time  it 
seemed  economically  productive.  Gen.  Lee.  apostle  of  the  Old,  is  the  virtual 
founder  of  the  New  South.  I  quote  Prof.  Edwin  Mimms  in  his  remarkable  book, 
"The  Advancing  South."  page  4,  referring  to  Lee:  "As  he  was  the  consummate 
flower  of  the  ante  bellum  civilization,  and  the  great  commander  who  fought  a 
losing  battle  with  the  courage  and  skill  shown  by  others  in  victory,  so  he  became 
the  leader  of  the  liberal  forces  that  were  to  make  a  new  order.  There  is  not  a 
progressive  movement  in  the  South  today  that  cannot  find  inspiration  in  his 
letters  and  conversations;  and  even  the  very  slogans  for  the  battle  are  his  when 
he  said.  'Abandon  all  these  local  animosities  and  make  your  sons  Americans.'  He 
became  what  Gamiel  Bradford  has  called  him,  'Lee  the  American,'  who  did  more 
for  the  Union  during  those  five  years  after  the  war  than  any  other  man  of  his 
time.  When  he  said  that  'the  thorough  education  of  all  classes  of  people  is  the 
most  efficacious  means  for  promoting  the  prosperity  of  the  South,'  he  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  all  educational  campaigns  which  have  been  held  since  then. 
When  he  said  that  the  great  aim  of  every  Southerner  should  be  to  unite  'in  the 
allayment  of  passion,  the  dissipation  of  prejudice,  and  the  restoration  of  reason,' 
he  rebuked  every  man  who  at  that  time  and  later  made  his  appeal  to  passion 
and  prejudice." 

It  may  seem  to  some  a  strange  claim  to  affirm,  as  I  now  do,  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  also  a  true  representative  of  the  Old  South  which  has  blossomed  out 
into  the  New.  Born  in  Hodgenville,  Ky..  but  of  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  stock 
which  settled  in  Augusta  County  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  he  had  the  ideals  which  flamed  in  the  heart  of  Washington.  Jefferson, 
Lee  and  Woodrow  Wilson.  If  he  could  have  had  his  way,  there  would  have 
been  no  war;  and  if  he  had  been  spared  the  Martyr's  death,  the  Era  of  Recon- 
struction, which  destroyed  national  unity  in  the  seventies,  would  never  have 
cursed  our  country.  I  was  pastor  of  his  cousin  in  Lexington,  Va.(  and  found 
him  in  many  respects  a  reproduction  of  his  famous  presidential  relative,  though 
the  Virginia  Lincoln  had  been  a  brave  and  persistent  Confederate  soldier.  I  once 
asked  him  what  he  thought  of  his  cousin  Abraham.  "A  very  decent  man,  though 
on  the  wrong  side  in  this  recent  controversy."  I  asked  him  if,  as  a  soldier  in 
battle  loading  his  gun  and  shooting  at  the  foe,  he  had  seen  his  cousin  directly 
in  front  of  him,  what  would  he  have  done.  His  reply:  "I  would  not  have 
turned  my  gun  to  the  right;  I  would  not  have  turned  my  gun  to  the  left;  I 
would  have  shot  directly  in  front  of  me  and  let  Providence  take  care  of  the 
results!"  A  true  Lincolnian  answer.  The  tragedy  of  the  fratricidal  war  was  that 
men  like  Lee  and  Lincoln  were  not  allowed  really  to  come  to  conference  that 
the  issues  might  have  been  settled  without  Appomatox.  Bull  Run,  Chancellors- 
ville  or  Manassas. 

The  Old  South  is  in  the  New.  Loyalty  to  the  nation  is  a  distinctive  mark 
of  the  New.  I  love  to  say  in  the  North  that  during  the  World  War  one  section 
furnished  no  pacifists,  evaders,  or  deserters,  and  that  is  the  thirteen  States  that 
once  constituted  the  Confederacy.  Always  religious  and  Christian,  many  of  the 
industrial  and  economic  problems  which  now  demand  solution  will  find  it  not 
in  Communism.  Socialism  or  Bolshevism,  but  in  the  actual  application  of  the 
Ethics  of  Jesus   to   the   commercial   and   political   issues   of  this   new   day.      Already 


194  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

men  like  Tompkins  of  Charlotte,  N.  C,  and  Crawford  of  Birmingham  are 
blazing  the  way.  Dr.  W.  W.  Alexander,  Southern  to  the  core,  is  showing 
Massachusetts  and  New  York  how  to  settle,  on  the  rational  and  truly  Christ- 
like basis,  inter-racial  relations.  And  then  the  great  international  problem  "will 
not  down."  This  United  States  cannot  divorce  itself  from  the  life  of  the  world 
and  live  an  isolated  and  selfish  life.  A  Southerner  pointed  out  the  solution  to 
the  world  itself,  which  has  been  virtually  accepted  by  the  whole  round  globe 
save  the  country  which  he  served  as  President  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  its 
Armies.  But  one  day  this  leader  will  be  sustained  by  the  right  verdict  of  his 
nation,  as  today  he  is  sustained  by  the  New  South,  of  which  he  was  so  admirable 
a  representative  and  product.  If  the  South  were  heeded,  the  League  of  Nations 
would  embrace  as  one  of  its  most  ardent  constituents,  the  Republic  of  the  West. 
Another  Southerner,  if  he  were  with  us,  would  give  his  commanding  influence 
to  the  same  wise  remedy  for  World  Wars;  and  Woodrow  Wilson  would  have 
the   backing   of    Abraham    Lincoln. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX 

fj  T  MAY  come  as  a  surprise  to  many  readers  of  history  that  there  was 
fm  ^J  a  powerful  and  determined  Emancipation  or  Abolition  Movement 
X^  J  in  the  first  Constitutional  Convention  when  Kentucky  became  a 
Sovereign  State — the  first  free-born  Commonwealth  of  the  Federal 
Union.  The  story  and  tragedy  of  this  heroic  struggle  to  prevent  the  incorpora- 
tion of  chattel  slavery  in  the  basic  law  of  this  New  Land  beyond  the  Alleghanies 
has  never  been  fully  or  fairly  told.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  native 
State  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  pro-slavery  from  the  first,  and  that  the  few  pro- 
testing voices  in  the  Convention  which  framed  her  first  constitution  were  imprac- 
tical idealists  who  were  soon  silenced  by  the  wisdom  and  common-sense  of  the 
large  majority.  What  is  our  astonishment,  therefore,  when  we  uncover  the  facts 
and  see  that  the  defeat  of  the  Emancipation  or  Abolition  forces  was  one  of  the 
gravest  tragedies  in  American  history.  Who  can  ever  begin  to  measure  the  con- 
sequences that  would  have  followed  had  Kentucky  truly  been  a  Free  State?  It 
was  no  more  necessary  that  she  be  a  Slave  State  than  Ohio,  or  Indiana,  or  Illinois. 
And  it  was  just  as  clear  to  the  fearless  and  earnest  men  who  protested  slavery 
in  that  early  constitutional  convention  what  would  come  to  pass  in  after  gener- 
ations as  it  was  to  their  descendants  on   the  eve  of  the  Civil   War. 

TESTIMONY    OF    JOHN    MASON    BROWN 

It  was  John  Mason  Brown,  the  just  and  noble-minded  Kentucky  attorney  and 
historian,  who  first  unearthed  and  set  forth  the  facts  of  this  determined  and 
bitter  struggle  between  the  Preachers  and  the  Politicians.  Mr.  Brown  has  no 
hesitancy  whatever  in  his  statements  or  conclusions.  Says  he  in  a  famous  Filson 
Club  document:  "The  ablest  among  the  preachers  who  opposed  the  incorporation 
of  slavery  into  the  polity  of  Kentucky  was  David  Rice,  the  father  of  Presbyte- 
rianism  in  the  West.  He  had  come  from  Virginia  in  1783;  had  established  in 
his  house  in  Lincoln  County,  in  1784,  the  first  grammar  school  in  the  West; 
and   the   influence   of  his   piety   and   talents   was   very    great. 

"In  the  political  crisis  of  1792,  when  the  Constitution  of  the  State  was  to 
be  formed,  he  put  in  print  the  doctrine  he  had  long  preached,  and  the  sentiments 
of  a  life-time,  issuing  a  pamphlet  entitled  Slavery  Inconsistent  with  Justice  and 
Good  Policy.'  A  single  extract  will  illustrate  the  deep  feeling  that  generally 
prevailed: 

'The  slavery  of  the  Negroes  began  in  iniquity;  a  curse  has  attended  it; 
and  a  curse  will  follow  it.  National  vices  will  be  punished  with  national  calam- 
ities. Let  us  avoid  these  vices,  that  we  may  avoid  the  punishment  which  they 
deserve,   and   endeavor  so   to   act   to   secure   the   approbation   and   smiles   of   heaven. 

'  'Holding  men  in  slavery  is  the  national  vice  of  Virginia;  and  while  a  part 
of  that  State  we  were  partakers  of  the  guilt.  As  a  separate  State  we  are  just 
now   come   to    the   birth;    and    it    depends    upon    our    free   choice    whether    we    shall 


196  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF  LINCOLN 

be  born  in  this  sin  or  innocent  of  it.  \Vc  now  have  it  in  our  power  to  adopt 
it  as  our  national  crime,  or  to  bear  a  national  testimony  against  it.  I  hope  the 
latter  will  be  our  choice:  that  we  shall  wash  our  hands  of  this  guilt  and  not 
leave  it  in  the  power  of  a  future  Legislature  evermore  to  stain  our  reputation  or 
our    conscience    with    it.' 

THE  MAN  WHO  MADE  KENTUCKY  A  SLAVE  STATE 
Solemn  and  momentous  words.  And  John  Mason  Brown  goes  to  the  root  of 
the  tragedy  when  he  says:  "It  is  not  difficult  now  to  discern  the  power  that 
overcame  the  strong  public  feeling,  especially  among  the  religious  denominations, 
adverse  to  a  continuance  of  slavery.  A  new  and  strong  and  trained  man  made 
his  first  appearance  in  Kentucky  politics  as  a  member  of  that  body.  George- 
Nicholas  had  but  recently  come  from  Virginia,  but  the  fame  of  his  abilities  and 
the  record  of  his  public  services  had  preceded  him.  He  had  sustained  debate 
against  no  less  opponents  than  Patrick  Henry  and  George  Mason,  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Convention,  and  deservedly  shared  with  Madison  the  credit  of  carrying  the 
vote    that    ratified    the   Federal    Constitution. 

"He  took  charge,  as  if  by  common  consent,  of  the  serious  work  of  the  Con- 
vention. The  State  Constitution  of  1792  may  be  fairly  regarded  as  his  produc- 
tion. He  was  the  principal  debater  on  the  floor  and  the  principal  draftsman  in 
the  Committee. 

"His  ablest  opponent  was  the  Rev.  David  Rice,  his  colleague  from  Mercer 
County.  Rice,  however,  resigned  on  the  11th  of  April  (179  2)  and  his  succes- 
sor, Harry  Innes,  came  into  the  Convention  too  late  to  participate  influentially 
in  the  debates.  When  the  vote  came  to  be  taken  on  the  perfected  draft  of  the 
Constitution,  the  question  of  slavery  or  no-slavery  in  the  new  State  was  put  to 
the   direct   issue." 

THE  PREACHERS  AND  THE  POLITICIANS 
The  article  by  George  Nicholas  contemplated  a  mild,  humane  system  of 
slavery  as  free  from  the  traffic  as  possible,  but  to  be  perpetual  and  never  set  a 
slave  free  without  the  consent  of  the  owner.  On  the  18th  of  April.  1792.  the 
Nicholas  article  or  amendment  was  voted  upon.  There  were  6  votes  of  minis- 
ters— 3  Baptist,  2  Presbyterian  and  1  Methodist — all  against  it:  for  as  Mr. 
Brown  points  out,  religious  opinion  was  unanimous  for  Abolition.  And,  as  he 
further  says,  the  ability  wealth,  and  political  experience  of  George  Nicholas,  the 
politician,  defeated  them.  And  Mr.  Brown  adds  with  solemn  emphasis:  "It 
required  a  Civil  War  to  correct  the  error  made  in  1792.  The  humble  preacher 
delegates  were  wiser  than  their  ablest  opponents.  It  is  to  be  noticed  as  an  evi- 
dence of  their  disinterestedness  that  the  preacher  members  of  the  Convention, 
without  exception,  voted  for  a  constitutional  provision  disqualifying  all  min- 
isters  of    religious    societies    from    service    in    the    Legislature." 

And  he  pays  this  tribute:  "It  is  to  the  honor  of  the  Baptist  preachers  of  the 
new  country  that  they  faced  the  problem  with  a  courage  that  did  honor  to  their 
intellect,  their  religious  sincerity,  and  their  sense  of  public  duty.  They  were  not 
then,  as  a  rule,  cultured  or  rich.  Their  horizon  of  speculation  was  narrow:  but 
their  mode  of  thought  was  the  essence  of  honest  logic  applied  to  the  rigid  Calvin- 
istic   doctrines   they   so   devoutly   embraced." 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  197 

AND  A   FRIEND   OF  THOMAS   JEFFERSON! 

It  does  not  lessen  our  sorrow  and  disappointment  today  to  known  that  this 
man  Nicholas,  who  engrafted  chattel  bondage  upon  the  body  of  the  Newborn 
Commonwealth,  was  one  of  a  group  of  eminent  and  gifted  brothers  who  were 
bosom  friends  and  political  supporters  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  George  Nicholas 
made  a  resolute  stand  for  religious  liberty  in  Old  Virginia,  and  he  was  a  prime 
mover  of  the  famous  "Kentucky  Resolutions"  that  turned  the  tide  of  constitu- 
tional liberty  and  state  sovereignty  in  America.  We  can  only  reflect  that  he, 
like  the  vast  majority  of  his  privileged  class  in  Virginia  and  the  Old  South, 
could  see  no  wrong,  as  Father  David  Rice  and  his  colleagues  did,  in  the  enslave- 
ment of  the  Negro.  It  is  one  of  the  sad  silences  of  history,  too,  that  Thomas 
Jefferson — who  was  so  alert  and  vigilant  to  defend  the  freedom  and  rights  of 
his  own  race  in  the  South  by  those  famous  resolutions  referred  to — did  not 
catch  the  significance  and  give  expression  to  some  deciding  sentiment  favoring 
Emancipation  or  Abolition  in  the  Constitution  of  the  first  New  Commonwealth 
of   the   Federal    Union. 


ANOTHER   FORERUNNER    RAISED   UP 

No  doubt  Father  Rice  and  his  colleagues  were  far  in  advance  of  the  times. 
No  doubt  they  were  Utopian  dreamers  from  a  practical,  political  point  of  view. 
But,  having  lost  the  battle  for  freedom  so  bravely  fought  another  scene  is  enacted, 
and  another  character  emerges — a  man  of  more  determined  mind  and  makeup  on 
this  issue  of  slavery  than  Father  Rice  had  ever  been.  Sometime  in  the  autumn 
of  1817  there  arrived  in  the  town  of  Paris,  Bourbon  County.  Kentucky,  a  young 
Presbyterian  preacher  with  his  wife  and  child  in  a  buggy  or  carriage  that  had 
seen  rough  roads  in  its  journey  from  East  Tennessee.  The  young  man  called 
upon  the  Rev.  John  Lyle,  the  local  minister  of  his  denomination  to  inquire  about 
prospects  for  a  settlement  as  stated  supply  or  pastor.  Mr.  Lyle  examined  him 
to  his  own  satisfaction  in  theology  and  remarked  that  there  was  a  two-church 
field  at  Concord  and  Carlisle  not  far  away.  The  new  preacher,  who  was  the 
Rev.  John  Rankin,  confided  the  fact  very  frankly  that  he  was  an  Abolitionist 
and  was  on  his  journey  to  the  Free  State  of  Ohio.  But  Mr.  Lyle  was  so  im- 
pressed that  he  promised  speedy  and  satisfactory  accommodations.  His  father, 
too,  was  an  opponent  of  slaverv  in  the  Old  Dominion;  and  the  Concord  Church 
was  a  congregation  of  about  200  members  with  only  one  slave-holder,  and  he 
was   endeavoring    to    make    up    his    mind    to    emancipate    his    slaves. 

A  CHURCH  OF  BLUEGRASS  ABOLITIONISTS 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  the  young  Tennesseean  deemed  himself  providentially 
directed  to  this  new  field,  especially  to  the  Concord  Church.  There  he  found 
an  Elder  Samuel  Donnell,  who  was  a  native  of  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  born 
November  23,  1760.  This  Mr.  Donnell  had  come  to  Kentucky  unawakcned, 
like  George  Nicholas,  to  the  evils  of  slavery  until  he  heard  Father  Rice  preach. 
He  was  so  convinced  that  in  1792,  when  the  election  for  delegates  to  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  was  at  hand,  he  worked  with  a  Mr.  Henry  and  other 
thoughtful  men  getting  up  associations  throughout  the  country  to  arouse  the 
people   against   slavery,    to   pass   resolutions,    and    to   support    men    pledged    to    make 


198 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


Kentucky  a  Free  State.  So  that  in  Bourbon  County  the  Emancipation  or  Aboli- 
tion ticket  was  elected.  Father  Rice's  measure  against  slavery  lost  in  the  Con- 
vention by  only  4  votes.  Again  in  1796,  when  the  Constitution  was  revised, 
Elder  Donnell  and  his  associates  redoubled  their  efforts  for  freedom;  and  again 
lost    in    the   Convention    by    only    a    few    votes. 

It   stirred    the   soul   of   the   new   preacher   to    hear   these   things.      When    he   left 
home   his    father   had    followed   him    on   horseback    a    good    way,    begging    him    not 


Rev.  and  Mrs.  John  Rankin,  "Freedom's  "Hero  and  Hero- 
ine." John  Rankin  shares  with  Benjamin,  Lundy  the  fame 
of   being-   the    "Father    of   Abolition    in    America." 


to  go;  and  young  Rankin's  heart  had  been  heavy.  But  now  he  knew  it  was 
the  guidance  of  God;  and  he  remained  with  the  Concord  Church  a  little  over 
four  years.  He  found  an  Abolition  Society  amongst  the  members.  It  was  for 
Immediate  Abolition  of  Slavery,  too;  and  yet.  said  Mr.  Rankin  afterward,  some 
opponents  of  freedom  spoke  contemptuously  of  Abolition  as  "modern."  Samuel 
Donnell,  William  Henry,  James  and  William  Thompson.  John  C.  McCoy,  and 
other  godly  laymen  and  upright  citizens,  were  Immediate  Abolitionists.  They 
held   meetings,   discussing  openly   the  cruelty   and   evil   of  slavery.      They   published 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE    NEW  199 

and  circulated  tracts  defending  the  rights  of  slaves  as  human  beings.  These  men 
were  very  fine  characters,  said  Mr.  Rankin,  and  they  were  active  in  this  work 
for  the  enslaved  Negroes.  In  such  company  the  young  Tennessee  preacher  found 
himself.  Many  of  these  earnest-minded  men  and  women  of  God  even  then  advo- 
cated the  disfellowship  of  slave-holders:  and  the  one  lone  slave-holder  in  Con- 
cord  Church   was   only   allowed   to   remain   by   promising   to   amend   his   way. 

JOHN  RANKIN  MEASURES  UP 

This  new  "Eorerunner  of  Lincoln"  was  not  a  radical  in  theology,  as  many 
of  his  opponents  imagined.  He  was  a  conservative,  a  dyed-in-the-wool  Calvin- 
istic  Presbyterian.  He  studied  the  Bible  to  refute  the  arguments  of  slave-holding 
preachers  and  people.  No  man  ever  gave  more  earnest  and  intelligent  heed  to  the 
Word  of  God  in  order  to  defend  human  rights.  This  study  gave  to  his  tongue 
and  pen  a  pith  and  point  like  a  two-edged  sword.  He  was  a  man  of  medium 
height,  looked  you  squarely  in  the  eye;  and  some  people  thought  he  was  harsh 
and  unpleasant  because  he  was  so  determined  in  moral  purpose.  But  no  man 
was  more  sensitive  to  human  suffering  the  world  over,  nor  gentler  among  his 
loved  ones  at  home. 

Mr.  Rankin  organized  "The  Free  Presbyterian  Church"  when  the  Old  School 
Assembly  took  no  stand  on  slavery  and  when  even  the  New  School  Assembly 
began  to  hedge,  as  he  thought.  The  members  of  his  Presbytery  in  Ohio  simply 
withdrew,  when  a  crisis  came,  and  formed  the  new  organization.  When  the 
issue  of  slavery  was  settled  the  "Free  Presbyterian  Church"  was  absorbed  back 
into  the  Mother  Body.  In  open  letters  of  keen  and  powerful  reasoning  he 
addressed  the  Trustees  of  Hanover  College  and  Lane  Seminary  when  free  dis- 
cussion among  students  was  suppressed  100  years  ago.  It  was  Mr.  Rankin's 
custom  to  preach  a  gospel  sermon  in  the  morning  of  Sunday  as  he  traveled,  and 
announce  an  Abolition  address  at  night.  His  home  at  Ripley,  Ohio,  was  the 
Mecca  to  Abolition  students  going  down  the  river  to  Lane  Seminary.  He  divided 
honors  with  Benjamin  Lundy  as  being  "The  Father  of  Abolition  in  the  Ohio 
Valley." 


HEROIC  RECORDS  RESTORED 

It  is  amazing  how  little  even  highly  cultured  reading  people  know  today  of 
the  powerful  and  persistent  Abolition  men  and  movement  of  those  early  years 
right  here  in  our  own  home  State.  Our  own  researches  to  unearth  the  facts 
have  extended  over  a  long  period.  For  years  we  had  sought  for  information 
about  this  great  preacher,  John  Rankin.  At  last  we  were  rewarded.  At  the 
Synod  of  Indiana,  in  the  fall  of  1926,  at  Vincennes,  we  were  told  that  the  lead- 
ing members  of  the  Old  Concord  Abolition  Church  near  Carlisle  Kentucky, 
crossed  over  into  Decatur  County,  Indiana,  and  settled  at  a  village  which  was 
called  Kingston — and  which  gave  the  name  to  the  new  church  they  founded  there. 

On  Friday,  May  20,  1927,  an  ever  memorable  and  beautiful  day,  we  jour- 
neyed to  Greensburg,  Decatur  County,  Indiana,  at  the  special  invitation  of  Miss 
Mary  Rankin,  the  grand-daughter  and  biographer  of  Rev.  John  Rankin,  to  sec 
the  manuscript  material  which  he  left  regarding  the  forgotten  heroic  struggle 
against   slavery   in   our   own   State    100    years   ago.      Miss   Rankin    is   a    graduate   of 


200 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


Oberlin  College  and  a  finished  critic  and  writer  of  history.  Her  father  was  the 
son  and  namesake  of  Rev.  John  Rankin;  and  in  a  family  group  picture  of  this 
famous  Abolition  family,  he  wore  the  uniform  of  a  Federal  soldier.  His  widow, 
the  mother  of  Miss  Mary  Rankin,  is  a  remarkable  woman,  alert,  and  full  of 
vision  and  love  for  humanity.  She  joined  with  her  daughter  in  giving  us  every 
fact  and  assistance  necessary  to  restore  the  story  of  Rev.  John  Rankin  to  our 
own   times   and   the   future. 


Eliza  House  where  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  imet  the 
Negress  '"Eliza"  in  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  Home  of  Rev 
John    Rankin,    Ripley,    Ohio. 


REV.  JOHN  RANKIN  AND  REV.  JOHN  RULE 

We  were  very  much  impressed  also  to  learn  that  our  own  father,  Rev.  John 
Rule,  was  pastor  of  the  same  church  at  Carlisle  that  Rev.  John  Rankin  had 
served  50  years  before.  And  when  our  father  went  with  the  Southern  side  in 
the  division  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  1867-8,  old  Elder  Waugh  of  the 
Carlisle  Church  who  was  an  Anti-slavery  and  Union  man,  locked  the  doors  on 
a  sacramental  meeting  already  announced.  His  brother,  a  milder  man  in  judg- 
ment and  attitude,  persuaded  him  to  let  the  doors  be  opened.  Nevertheless  this 
church  went  ultimately  with  the  Southern  Assembly.  But  the  manuscript  his- 
tory of  the  Abolition  Church  at  Concord  is  a  priceless  document.  The  Kingston 
Church,  in  Decatur  County,  Indiana,  which  the  followers  of  John  Rankin 
founded,  stands  in  a  quaint  Arcadian  landscape  of  indescribable  beauty  and  fertil- 
ity.     But  the  old   families   and   names   that   gave  it   glory   are   nearly   all   gone   now. 


CHAPTER   XL 

February    4.     1793 — March    18.     1886 
By  His  Grand-daughter,   MARY  RANKIN    (May — 1927) 


(jA        '  HE  ANCESTORS  of  John  Rankin   were  Scotch-Presbyterians   from   the 
|     I  ■%  north    of    Ireland.       Thomas    Rankin,    his    grandfather,    was    brought 

Vl/  to  Pennsylvania  when  three  years  old.      He  and  three  of  his  six   sons 

■*  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,   and  then,   having  sold  his  farm   for 

worthless  Continental  money,  he  was  forced  to  seek  a  homestead  in  Tennessee. 
His  grandson  describes  him  as  an  elder  in  the  church  and  an  honored  example  to 
his  family  and  neighbors.  Robert  Rankin,  his  son,  a  blacksmith,  also  moved  to 
Jefferson  County,  Tennessee,  with  his  wife,  Jane  Steele,  also  of  Scotch-Irish  par- 
entage.     There  the  son  John  was  born  February   4,    1793. 

He  says  of  his  parents:  "They  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  well  indoctrinated."  Their  children  were  baptized  in  infancy  and  taught  the 
Shorter  Catechism.  Four  sons  became  ministers.  "My  father  was  remarkable  for 
the  purity  of  his  morals.-  My  mother  was  a  woman  of  strong  mental  capacity 
and  one  who  read  much  in  the  Bible  and  religious  books.  The  influence  of  a 
mother  is  more  impressing  than  that  of  a  father.  I  often  found  her  on  her 
knees  in  secret  prayer  and  when  father  was  absent  she  prayed   with  the  family." 

The  majority  of  the  settlers  were  rough,  ignorant  people  who  opposed  schools, 
churches  and  an  educated  ministry.  So  the  Rankin  family  of  ten  boys  and  one 
girl  were  taught  at  home;  and  as  the  well-read  family  library  consisted  of  "The 
Bible,  some  of  the  writings  of  the  ablest  Scotch  divines  and  some  historical 
works."  they  fared  better  than  many  others  of  the  day.  An  occasional  three 
months'  term  of  school  was  held  at  a  crude  school  house  two  and  a  half  miles 
distant.  The  school  house  was  "built  of  round  logs.  One  end  of  it  was  built 
like  the  corner  of  a  fence,  in  which  there  was  a  rough  stone  wall  against  which 
the  fire  was  built  of  such  logs  as  could  be  rolled  or  carried  in.  The  floor  was 
native  earth.  A  wide  space  between  two  logs  formed  the  place  for  light.  There 
was  no  loft,  clapboards  weighted  down  with  heavy  poles  formed  the  roof.  Our 
books  were  Dillsworth's  Spelling  book,  the  New  and  Old  Testaments,  (the  New 
first  then  the  Old).  After  that  any  history  might  be  read.  Our  Arithmetic 
was  in  the  Master's  head  and  sometimes  there  was  none  there." 

As  he  grew  to  manhood,  he  says,  "I  wrote  articles  on  various  subjects  and 
cultivated  my  oratorical  capacity  by  speaking  in  the  fields  and  woods  where  no 
one  could  hear  me.  I  read  much  in  the  Bible  and  books  on  Theology.  The 
Bible  was  my  school  book;  hence  I  acquired  a  taste  for  reading  its  attractive 
style  and   stupendous   miracles." 


202 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


He  did  his  share  of  the  work  on  the  farm  and  also  learned  to  make  harnesses, 
shoes  and  many  other  things  needed  about  the  farm  or  house.  He  says:  "I  would 
rather  make  a  neat  bed  in  the  garden  or  a  neat  pair  of  shoes  than  to  play.  With 
me  it  was  generally  all   work  and  no  play." 


SAMUEL    DOAK,    D.    D. 

Founder  and  First  President  of  Washing-ton  College,  East 
Tennessee,    first   college   West   of  the   Alleghanies. 


"The  first  regular  church  in  this  cradle-spot  of  Tennessee  was  a  Pres- 
byterian log  meeting-house  built  near  Jonesboro  in  1777  and  christened 
Salem  Church.  Its  pastor  was  a  pioneer  preacher,  who  worked  with  fiery 
and  successful  energy  to  spread  learning  and  religion  among  the  early  settlers 
of  the  Southwest.  His  name  was  Samuel  Doak.  He  came  from  New  Jersy 
and   had   been   educated   at   Princeton 

"The  hardy  people  among  whom  he  took  up  his  abode  were  able  to  appre- 
ciate his  learning  and  religioni  as  much  as  they  admired  his  adventures  and 
indomitable  temper;  and  the  stern,  hard.  God-fearing  man  became  a  most 
powerful  influence  for  good  throughout  the  whole  formative  period  of  the 
Southwest. 

"Not  only  did  he  found  a  church,  but  near  it  he  built  a  log  high  school, 
which  soion  became  Washington  College,  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  west 
of  the  A{lleghanies." — Theodore  Roosevelt  in  "The  Winning  of  the  West." 
{Vol.   Ill,   page   99.) 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW 


203 


HIS   RELIGIOUS    AWAKENING 

At  the  age  of  seven  he  was  profoundly  moved  by  the  excitement  of  a  religious 
revival  that  swept  the  country;  and  he  "did  earnestly  desire  to  experience  the 
realities  of  religion  and  did  practice  secret  prayer."  But  he  made  no  profession 
because  children  of  that  age  were  not  encouraged  to  do  so.  The  natural  reaction 
followed  and  is  described  as  coldness,  doubt,  despair  and  anguish  of  spirit.  His 
child  mind  wrestled  with  the  ninth  chapter  of  Romans  and  the  doctrines  of 
election  and  foreordination,  and  when  other  young  people  were  chatting  merrily 
on  the  way  home  from  church,  he  would  ride  "solemn  and  silent  as  the  grave 
under  a  sense  of  the  awful  truths."  But  again:  "At  times  I  had  joyful  hope 
and  when  I  was  but  a  boy  I  united  with  the  church,  but  my  doubts  would, 
at   times,    return." 

From  his  earliest  recollection  he  had  hoped  to  be  a  minister  and  he  continued 
his  studies  through  all  this  period  of  spiritual  struggle,  held  back  only  by  a  sense 
of  his  unworthiness.  When  he  was  about  twenty  he  had  the  opportunity  to 
study  Latin  for  three  months  under  Rev.  David  Weir,  and  to  do  so  he  rode  horse- 
back   fourteen    miles   a    day. 


BIRTHPLACE    OF    REV.    JOHN    RANKIN 
Jefferson   County,   Tennessee 


EDUCATED  UNDER  DR.  DOAK 

He  continued  his  studies  at  home  till  his  father  was  able  to  send  him  to 
Washington  College,  some  sixty  miles  east  of  his  home,  where  he  studied  under 
Dr.  Samuel  Doak,  the  founder  of  this  first  institution  of  classical  learning  west 
of  the  Alleghanies.  Dr.  Doak's  plan  was  to  let  the  young  men  of  his  school 
advance  as  rapidly  as  possible  without  regard  to  classes,  so  that  the  young  John 
Rankin  finished  his  course  in  two  and  a  half  years.  During  this  time  his  health 
was  impaired  and  extreme  nervousness  brought  on  a  feeling  of  "diffidence,"  as  he 
describes  it,  that  was  not  overcome  for  several  years.  Six  months  before  he  grad- 
uated from  college  he  was  taken  under  the  care  of  Abingdon  Presbytery  and  after 
a  year  of  reading  prescribed  by  Dr.   Doak  he  was  licensed  to  preach. 


HIS   MARRIAGE 

A    few    weeks    before   his    graduation    he    married    Jean    Lowry,    grand-daughter 
of  Dr.   Doak.      By  her  trade  as  tailoress  she  supported  him   through   the   remainder 


204  THE   FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


of  his  college  year  and  his  supplementary  study  for  the  ministry.  There  were 
many  times  after  that  when  her  skill  supported  the  large  family  (thirteen  chil- 
dren) when  the  salary  came  in  slowly  or  not  at  all.  He  writes  of  her  later: 
"In  all  our  pilgrimage  she  has  never  placed  an  obstacle  in  my  way  of  preaching 
the  gospel.  But  few  women  have  filled  as  well  the  place  of  a  minister's  wife. 
She   contributed    greatly    to    my    success    in    the    sacred    office." 

SOJOURN  IN  KENTUCKY 

Mr.  Rankin  began  to  supply  pulpits  in  the  churches  of  East  Tennessee,  but 
as  there  was  no  opening  for  him  there,  and  as  he  hated  slavery,  he  determined  to 
go  north  and  seek  a  home  and  a  church  in  free  territory.  With  his  wife  and  son, 
2  horse  and  carriage  and  a  hundred  dollars  in  silver,  he  set  out  in  the  Fall  of  1817. 
Stopping  at  Paris,  Kentucky,  to  call  on  the  Rev.  John  Lyle,  he  was  examined 
by  that  gentleman  concerning  his  beliefs,  and  being  found  free  from  taint  of 
"Hopkinsonianism,"  he  was  urged  to  stop  and  preach  to  the  Concord  Church  near 
Carlisle.  He  agreed  to  stay  for  the  winter  and  then  became  their  pastor  and 
remained   for  four  years. 

Two  sermons  a  week  soon  exhausted  his  supply  of  memorized  sermons  and 
in  a  panic  he  complained  to  his  wife  that  he  lacked  "capacity"  to  preach  and 
would  have  to  give  it  up.  She  believed  in  him  and  encouraged  him  to  persevere. 
It  was  then  that  he  adopted  a  plan  which  he  always  followed.  "I  selected  a 
sufficient  number  of  texts  to  give  me  enough  to  speak,  for  I  never  had  a  talent 
for  speaking  on  nothing  as  some  seem  to  have.  I  then  placed  in  memory  the 
order  to  be  pursued,  the  doctrines  to  be  discussed  and  the  texts  to  sustain  them. 
I  never  opened  my  Bible  to  read  a  proof  text.  I  took  no  notes  into  the  pulpit 
and  read  only  the  text.  When  I  began  to  preach  in  this  way  the  people  began 
to  speak  of  my  improvement  in  preaching."  He  wrote  no  sermons  but  often 
"discussed  the  doctrines  of  the  gospels"  with  his  pen  in  order  to  faciliate  expres- 
sion. He  felt  the  necessity  of  study  the  more  keenly  because  the  Concord  congre- 
gation were  a  superior  class  of  people,  and  because  they  had  been  seriously  dis- 
turbed by  the  preaching  of  a  former  pastor.  Barton  Stone,  leader  of  the  "New 
Light"  faith  as  it  was  then  called.  He  had  to  defend  the  doctrines  of  the  Divinity 
of  Christ,  the  Atonement,  and  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  custom 
of  infant  baptism. 

He  was  gradually  freeing  himself  of  the  self-consciousness  that  had  developed 
during  his  college  days,  and  by  this  close  study  of  text  and  doctrine  he  became 
so  familiar  with  both  as  to  be  at  ease  on  any  occasion.  He  tells  this  story  of 
a  later  time:  "I  was  once  appointed  by  Presbytery  to  preach  on  a  particular 
subject  and  I  forgot  that  I  had  been  so  appointed  until  the  hour  came.  I  selected 
a  suitable  text  and  discoursed  on  the  subject  to  the  satisfaction  of  Presbytery  and 
no  one  knew   I   had   made  no   preparation." 

The  story  has  been  told  by  another  of  a  wager  on  the  question  of  his  ability 
to  preach  without  previous  notice.  He  was  found  and  brought  before  the  crowd 
and  then  told  that  they  wanted  him  to  preach.  He  mounted  a  stump  and  an- 
nounced his  text — "Therefore  came  I  unto  you  without  gainsaying,  as  soon  as 
I  was  sent  for.  I  ask,  therefore,  for  what  intent  ye  have  sent  for  me,"  and 
plunged   immediately   into   his  discourse. 

APOSTLE  OF  ABOLITION 

With  no  books  but  the  Bible  he  was  compelled  to  study  it  closely,  not  only 
to  bet  able  to  refute  the  New  Light  doctrines,  but  to  fight  against  slavery,  and 
Bible  truths  were  always  his  chief  weapon  against  the  evil.  The  Concord  con- 
gregation were  strongly  anti-slavery  and  many  were  members  of  a  society  auxiliary 
to  the  Kentucky  Abolition  Society.  Mr.  Rankin  preached  and  lectured  through- 
out  the   State    without   opposition. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW  205 

But  though  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  its  ministry  were  then  predomi- 
nantly anti-slavery,  slavery  was  increasing  its  hold  in  the  State  and  that  reason, 
coupled  with  hard  times,  bank  failures,  and  the  migration  of  Concord  families 
to  Indiana,  determined  Mr.  Rankin  to  continue  the  journey  begun  four  years 
before.  He  was  called  to  the  churches  of  Ripley  and  Straight  Creek  in  Brown 
County,    Ohio,    and   took   up   his   work   there   in   November,    1822. 

For  forty-four  years  Mr.  Rankin  lived  and  preached  in  Ripley,  building  up 
the  congregation  and  church,  planting  other  churches  throughout  the  country, 
preaching  Presbyterian  doctrine,  temperance  and  anti-slavery.  He  held  week  day 
Bible  Classes  when  there  were  no  Sunday  Schools  and  organized  Sunday  Schools 
as  soon  as  the  movement  came  west.  At  his  suggestion,  men  of  his  church 
induced  men  of  the  Methodist  Church  to  unite  with  them  in  what  he  believed 
to  be  the  first  temperance  society  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Unfortunately  he 
gives  no  dates.  The  influence  of  this  society  was  strong  enough  to  drive  the 
saloons  out  of  the  town  several  times.  He  also  prepared  seven  young  men  for 
the  ministry,  and  for  a  few  years  was  president  of  a  little  college  that  died 
an  early  death   from  lack  of  funds. 

HIS    FAMOUS    "LETTERS    ON    SLAVERY" 

Mr.  Rankin's  account  of  his  first  book  is  significant:  "My  brother  Thomas 
settled  in  the  Middle  Brook,  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  as  a  merchant,  and  after 
living  there  some  years  he  wrote  me  that  he  had  bought  a  slave.  I  replied  to 
him  in  a  series  of  letters  published  in  a  paper  then  printed  in  Ripley,  called  the 
"Castigator."  I  sent  him  the  paper;  for  then  it  cost  twenty-five  cents  to  send 
a  letter  by  mail.  At  that  time  (1823)  Ohio  was  an  anti-slavery  State;  conse- 
quently the  series  of  letters  was  well  received.  In  those  letters  I  urged  the  wrong 
of  slavery  to  a  great  extent.  The  arguments  were  all  my  own,  for  I  had  no 
books  on  the  sublet  to  guide  me.  I  let  to  the  editor  of  the  "Castigator,"  one- 
third  of  my  house  at  $50  a  year  to  pay  for  printing  a  thousand  copies  of  the 
letters  in  book  form.  I  was  too  poor  to  get  them  all  bound  at  once.  I  got  a 
few  bound  at  a  time,  until  I  circulated  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky  six  hundred.  A 
bookseller  at  Maysville,  Ky.,  supplied  his  store  with  them  and  the  sale  of  them 
gave  no  offence  then.  Since  that  time  it  would  have  endangered  a  man's  life  to 
sell  one  of  them  in  that  State.  I  was  too  poor  to  publish  another  edition  and 
supposed  it  would  never  appear  again;  but  by  some  means  Mr.  Garrison  obtained 
a  copy  which  excited  him  to  run  his  anti-slavery  course.  He  acknowledged  him- 
self to  be  my  disciple.  I  am  responsible  for  his  Abolitionism  but  not  for  his 
divinity.  He  published  the  entire  series  in  the  "Liberator."  At  the  origin  of 
the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  it  was  extensively  published  in  New  England, 
and  the  society  made  it  a  text  book  for  their  lectures.  It  was  also  published  in 
England.  The  facts  of  cruelty  stated  in  it  were  almost  incredible  yet  they  were 
true.    ...    It  has  done   its   work   and   has   passed   away." 

OTHER   NOTABLE   ARTICLES 

Because  the  American  Book  and  Tract  Society  would  not  publish  anti-slavery 
tracts,  Mr.  Rankin  suggested  the  organization  of  a  new  one.  The  organization 
of   the   American   Reform    Tract   and   Book    Society    took   place   in    the    Vine   Street 


206  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Congregational  Church  of  Cincinnati.  Its  chief  supporters  were  Congregational- 
ists,  Presbyterians  and  Friends.  As  its  first  secretary,  it  fell  to  Mr.  Rankin  to 
collect  funds  for  its  endowment  and  his  travels  took  him  as  far  away  as  Bangor, 
Maine.  The  name  later  (185  2)  became  the  "Western  Tract  and  Book  Society." 
Mr.  Rakin  also  wrote  a  number  of  tracts  which  were  published  by  the  society, 
among  them:  "The  Bible  Contains  no  Sanction  for  Slavery,"  "By  the  Son  of 
a  Blacksmith."  "On  the  Duty  of  Voting  for  Good  Men,"  and  one  on  temper- 
ance, offering  reasons  why  intoxicating  drinks  should  be  prohibited  by  law.  One 
was  written  for  the  North,  showing  why  the  North  should  agree  to  liberate  the 
slaves  by  purchase,  and  one  was  for  the  Southern  people,  showing  why  thev 
should  agree  to  free  the  slaves  on  those  terms.  Mr.  Rankin  says:  "The  late 
war  has  shown  that  the  reasons  given  in  those  two  tracts  were  well  founded, 
for  it   would   have  saved   millions   of   lives   and   thousands   of   millions   of   money." 

HELPS  MRS.   STOWE  WITH   "UNCLE  TOMS  CABIN" 

"The  Lord  gave  me  a  sympathetic  heart  so  that  I.  could  not  help  sympathiz- 
ing with  innocent  sufferers.  Hence,  early  in  life  I  set  myself  against  slave- 
holding.  Some  of  the  keenest  sensations  of  mental  anguish  I  ever  felt  were 
occasioned  by  contemplating  the  cruelties  inflicted  upon  slaves."  Among  the 
stories  he  told  of  "runaway  slaves"  is  the  one  around  which  Mrs.  Stowe  built 
her  character  of  Eliza  in  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  "A  Kentucky  slave  mother 
having  been  harshly  treated  by  her  mistress,  took  her  child  in  her  arms  and  in 
the  night  started  for  Canada.  She  came  to  the  house  of  an  old  Scotchman  who 
lived  on  the  Ohio  River.  She  asked  him  what  was  best  for  her  to  do.  My 
house  being  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  he  pointed  to  it  and  said.  'A  good  man  lives 
in  that  house.  Go  to  it  and  you  will  be  safe.'  The  river  was  frozen  over  and 
a  thaw  had  come:  so  the  water  was  running  over  the  ice,  which  was  just  ready 
to  break  up.  She  waded  across  and  went  to  my  house,  went  into  the  kitchen, 
made  a  fire  and  dried  herself;  then  she  waked  two  of  my  boys  and  they  con- 
veyed  her   to   another   depot   the   same   night." 

Mr.  Rankin  used  this  and  similar  stories  to  illustrate  points  in  the  tracts 
he  was  publishing:  and  this  story  fell  into  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Stowe.  who  then 
lived  in  Cincinnati.  A  correspondence  followed  and  Mrs.  Stowe  was  invited  to 
visit  in  Mr.  Rankin's  home  and  interview  fugitives  as  they  came  through.  She 
availed  herself  of  this  invitation  and  spent  some  time  there.  Though  neither 
Mrs.  Stowe  nor  Mr.  Rankin  mentions  this  incident,  Mr.  Rankin's  children  all 
remembered  it  and  pointed  out  the  window,  the  west  one.  upstairs,  where  she 
sat  writing.  The  village  of  Ripley  has  many  added  legendary  details  not  con- 
firmed  by    the   memories    of    Mr.    Rankin's    family. 

Mr.  Rankin  says:  "There  was  a  band  of  benevolent  young  men  who  at- 
tended to  all  such  cases  and  were  ever  ready  to  spend  a  night  in  behalf  of  fugitive 
slaves."  And  Ripley  was  the  scene  of  so  many  such  acts  that  it  was  often  threat- 
ened with  burning.  Among  these  "benevolent  young  men"  were  Mr.  Rankin's 
nine  sons  as  they  grew  old  enough  to  be  of  service.  The  daughters,  too.  were 
often  called  upon  to  aid  by  carrying  colored  children  through  the  streets  on  their 
horses,  and  by  lending  their  clothing  and  horses  to  disguise  refugee  women  who 
were  being  escorted  through  the  town  in  daylight.  Sunbonnets  were  as  useful 
to  conceal  dark  faces  as  to  protect  the  beauty  of  the  fair.  No  fugitive  in  the 
hands  of  this  band  of  men   was  ever  captured. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW 


207 


SUFFERING    FOR    FREEDOM 

Mr.  Rankin,  in  his  travels  through  Ohio  and  Indiana  in  the  cause  of  anti- 
slavery,  suffered  many  indignities,  finding  the  doors  of  churches,  homes  and 
public  halls  closed  to  him;  and  on  the  other  hand,  finding  welcome  and  gener- 
osity from  those  whose  hearts  had  been  touched  by  his  cause.  Mobs  were  not 
infrequent  experiences,  and  plots  against  his  life  were  frustrated.  But  he  was 
never  kept  from  an  appointment;  and  only  once  did  an  audience  "walk  out  on 
him"  when  a  mob  attacked  the  building  where  he  was  speaking.  "His  body 
was  never  bruised  by  a  stone,  nor  his  raiment  stained  by  an  offensive  missle," 
though    stones    and    eggs    and    even    firebrands    hit    him    without    doing    any    harm. 


REV.    GEORGE    W.    GALE,    D.    D.     (1789-1S62) 

Great  but  Gentle  Abolition  Educator  and  New  School  Leader.  Originator 
and  founder  of  the  "Oneida  Manual  Labor  Institute,"  Whitesboro,  N.  Y.,  more 
than  100  years  ago.  Mr.  Gale  was  in  poor  health  himself  at  the  time  (1826) 
and  took  a  farm  to  help  promising-  young  men  secure  an  education  by  work- 
ing for  it.  His  personality  and  go<od  management  made  such  a  success  of 
the  experiment  that  the  idea  spread  rapidly  far  and  wide.  It  was  the  root 
idea  of  vocational  training  and  the  sciencesi  One  of  his  pupils,  Theodore  Weld 
who  conducted  the  Dairy  Department,  was  converted  under  Rev.  Charles  G. 
Finney,  and  entered  Lane  Seminary  under  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher.  Young  Weld 
traveled  throughout  the  country,  especially  the  South,  popularizing  the  Man- 
ual Labor  School  idea.  He  also  lectured  on  Slavery  and  Abolition  and  became 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  powerful  orators  and  workers  in  the  cause  of 
freedom.  He  headed  the  Student  Abolition  Movement  of  Lane  Seminary  100 
years  ago  in  demanding  freiedom  of  opinion  and  discussion  in  the  student 
body.  There  was  a  revolt  of  the  students  at  Lane  and  Hanover.  Rev. 
John  Rankin  addressed  keen  and  searching  open  letters  to  the  trustees  of 
these,  institutions   in  protest   of   suppressing  free   opinion   and   expression. 

Rev.  George  W.  Gale  was  the  pastor  who  led  Charles  G.  Finney,  the 
Great    Evangelist    and    Abolitionist,    to    Christ. 

Dr.    Gale   also    founded    Knox   College,    Illinois,    his    living    monument. 


He  writes:  "The  Lord  preserved  me  from  all  harm."  Nor  was  his  house  ever 
searched,  though  the  attempt  was  made  more  than  once.  At  one  time  the  slave- 
hunters  were  held  at  bay  by  Mrs.  Rankin  with  an  ax  in  her  hands,  Mr.  Rankin 
and  the  older  boys  being  .away  from  home  at  the  time.  Refugees  were  never 
kept    in    the   house   or   about    the    farm    more    than    an    hour    or   so,    beause    of    the 


208 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


MONUMENT    TO    RDV.    AND    MR 

Ripley,    Ohio 


I  ( )  1 1  X     RANK!  X 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  209 

danger  to  the  poor  fugitives  themselves;  so  there  was  nothing  to  conceal  from 
any  one  with  a  warrant  to  search  the  house.  But  no  warrant  was  presented  and 
the  sanctity  of  the  home   was  kept  inviolate. 

Many  legends  have  already  grown  up  in  Ripley  concerning  the  house  that 
looks  down  from  its  hill-top.  The  "secret  closets"  are  ordinarily  storage  places 
under  the  eaves,  and  in  one  of  them  Mr.  Rankin  tried  to  keep  bees,  which  ac- 
counts for  the  small  window  at  the  west  end  of  the  house.  The  legend  of  "the 
light  in  the  window  at  night"  probably  arose  around  the  candle  by  which  Mr. 
Rankin  read  and  wrote.  The  "Underground  Railroad"  would  not  have  been 
underground  had  its  first  station  been  so  conspiciously  designated.  Indeed,  there 
was  no  need  of  a  light,  for  the  runaway  had  been  following  the  North  Star, 
and  that  Star  of  Hope  stood  above  the  little  house,  etched  black  against  the  sky- 
line high  above  the  river. 

LAST  DAYS  AND  DEATH 

After  leaving  Ripley,  he  was  for  many  years  in  Kansas,  always  active  and 
busy  supplying  needy  churches,  with  little  compensation  till  his  ninetieth  year, 
when  an  accident  and  an  illness  of  three  years  ended  a  long,  eventful  life,  March 
18,  1886.  From  the  church  in  Ripley,  relays  of  colored  men  carried  his  casket 
the  long  mile  to  the  cemetery.  There  it  lies  beside  that  of  his  wife,  beneath  a 
simple  granite  monument  bearing  a  bronze  bust,   the  only  inscription  these  words: 

John   Rankin — 1793-1886 

Jean   Lowry,   his   wife — 1795-1878 

Freedom's  Heroes. 

SOURCES 

Manuscript,  copy  of  Life  of  John  Rankin,  written  by  Himself  in  his  Eighti- 
eth Year,    (a  manuscript  in  Western  Reserve  Historical  Museum,   Cleveland.   Ohio) . 

The  Soldier,  The  Battle  and  The  Victory,  by  the  Author  of  the  Life  and 
Writings  of  Samuel  Crothers,   etc. 

Pamphlet,   Dedication  of  Bronze  Bust  and   Granite  Monument. 


CHAPTER    XLI 


^|  I    I  HEN    Dr.     Lyman     Beecher    gave    himself    to    the    gospel     ministry    he 
/  I        relinquished    all    idea    of    accumulating    property    and    determined     to 

^^^^  trust  God  to  maintain  him  and  his  family,  whatever  of  good  or  ill 
might  befall  them.  He  confidently  anticipated  educating  his  children 
and  dedicated  his  sons  to  the  same  ministry  as  himself,  if  God  should  so  call 
them.  His  first  salary  at  East  Hampton.  Long  Island,  was  $300  and  firewood, 
with  an  increase  of  $100  after  five  years.  When  his  family  increased  he  received 
a  call  to  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  at  a  salary  of  $800  with  the  promise  of  fuel 
He  was  very  much  attached  to  the  Litchfield  pastorate,  but  each  year  his  thrifty 
wife  told  him  that  his  salary  did  not  meet  expenses;  and  in  due  course  of  time 
he  found  himself  $600  behind.  They  talked  the  matter  over  and  he  said  to 
her  that  he  had  not  expected  to  move  again  for  many  years,  if  ever;  and  he 
added  that  the  condition  of  the  church  was  not  such  as  to  justify  his  asking  an 
increase  of  salary  at  that  time.  Mother  Beecher  told  him  she  was  willing  to 
make  any  sacrifice  herself,  but  first  suggested  his  teaching  school  to  supplement 
his  salary.  The  good  pastor  replied  that  he  could  not  do  justice  to  his  flock  if 
he  entered  the  school  room.  Mother  Beecher  then  agreed  to  spend  a  little  finan- 
cial reserve  she  had  enlarging  the  manse  and  taking  in  roomers  and  boarders.  This 
experiment  proved  disastrous  to  her  health  and  inheritance  and  ultimately  brought 
on  a  decline  from  which  she  died.  It  seems,  however,  that  the  Litchfield  con- 
gregation did  come  to  his  relief  when  they  were  informed  of  his  embarrassing 
circumstances,  for  these  facts  are  set  forth  in  his  request  for  dismission  laid  before 
them.  It  was  a  very  tender  and  candid  communication,  after  a  fifteen  year  rela- 
tionship with  them.  He  said  that  some  ministers  might  have  farmed  and  loaned 
money  and  not  become  a  care  upon  their  flock,  but  that  he  was  absolutely  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  among  them  and  had  no  regrets  about  it. 
He  added  that  he  was  willing  for  his  sons  to  become  farmers  or  mechanics,  if 
they  so  wished,  but  that  they  gave  every  evidence  of  following  in  the  footsteps 
of  their   father   as  servants   of   the  Lord   Jesus. 

For  these  reasons  Dr.  Beecher  regarded  a  confidential  inquiry  from  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Hanover  Church  in  Boston  as  a  providential  door  of  relief  and 
entrance  into  larger  service  opened  unto  him.  He  so  informed  the  committee 
and  the  Litchfield  congregation  and  accepted  the  call  to  the  Boston  church.  He 
began  his  work  at  the  Hanover  Church  under  most  promising  auspices.  It  was 
just  one  hundred  years  ago,  in  the  year  1826.  He  was  the  one  outstanding 
evangelical  preacher  in  Boston.  He  was  a  man  of  great  personal  magnetism  and 
far-reaching  spiritual  vision.  The  Hanover  Church  consisted  of  just  thirty-seven 
members  when  he  arrived.  There  were  some  excellent  young  men  in  the  con- 
gregation and  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  the  auditors  increased.  In  those  davs 
the   pews    were    sold    or    rented    for    church    support    and    the    spaces    were    speedily 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  211 

occupied.  A  flood  of  young  people  from  the  middle  classes  showed  up  in  the 
audience,  and  Dr.  Beecher's  young  men  were  "quick  as  a  cat"  to  assist  him  in 
discovering,  locating,  and  calling  upon  any  spiritual  inquirers.  The  doctrines  of 
grace  that  he  preached  had  not  been  heard  in  Boston  for  many  years,  and  the 
effect  was  marked  from  the  outset.  Following  up  the  individuals  awakened, 
conversions  resulted.  He  established  the  Inquiry  Meeting,  so  favored  with  spirit- 
ual results  in  former  generations.  He  told  the  people  that  a  revival  was  coming 
and  that  they  must  prepare  for  it.  Such  an  experience  was  strange  to  the 
Boston  ministry  of  that  day.  Revivals  were  regarded  as  mad  fanaticism,  and  out- 
siders began  to  watch  this  new  Presbyterian  preacher  and  to  say  all  manner  of 
things  about  his  novel  and  unusual  method  and  manner.  He  made  no  attack 
upon  the  Unitarians.  He  simply  pointed  out  the  deadness  of  religion  in  the 
town  and  how  God  was  again  drawing  nigh  to  bless  his  people.  As  the  inquir- 
ers multiplied  his  own  young  men  met  him  at  the  door  with  staring  eyes  and 
told  him  that  it  was  a  mistake;  that  these  anxious  souls  did  not  understand 
what  they  were  doing.  But  Dr.  Beecher  answered  that  it  was  the  finger  of  God. 
He  was  compelled  to  divide  the  inquirers  into  groups  and  classes  and  go  from 
one  to  another,  with  his  helpers,  as  rapidly  but  as  thoroughly  as  possible.  He 
saw  infidels  and  skeptics  waiting  to  talk  to  him  and  while  avoiding  argument 
invited  them  to  the  manse.  He  rose  to  the  demands  of  the  crisis  and  when 
seventy  souls  were  received  into  the  communion  of  the  Hanover  Church  the 
opposition  broke  all  bounds.  He  was  assailed  in  the  papers  and  denounced 
on  the  street  corner.  Wives  and  daughters  were  forbidden  to  attend  his  services. 
"The  whole  weight  of  political,  literary,  and  social  influence  was  turned  against 
us,    and   the   lash   of   ridicule   laid    on    without    stint." 

Dr.  Beecher  revised  and  delivered  his  famous  six  sermons  on  Intemperance. 
His  young  men  enthusiastically  demanded  that  they  be  published.  The  sermons 
ran  through  several  editions,  and  the  Tract  Society  bought  the  copyright  and 
sold  them  by  the  hundred.  They  stirred  up  the  liquor  element  and  had  a  far- 
reaching  influence  for  good.  Yet  in  all  these  spiritual  and  social  unheavals  Dr. 
Beecher  was  not  vindictive  or  personal.  He  made  no  reply  to  opposition  or 
crit'eism.  He  told  his  people  that  either  the  town  of  Boston  would  yield  to 
the  revival  or  bitterly  oppose  it.  They  did  the  latter  as  he  confidently  antici- 
pated; but  he  triumphed  with  the  truth,  and  the  eyes  of  the  whole  nation  were 
centered  on  him. 

RISE  OF  CHARLES  G.   FINNEY 

"God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way  his  wonders  to  perform."  It  was  at  this 
very  time  that  the  remarkable  religious  awakening  in  New  York  State  associated 
with  the  name  and  work  of  Charles  G.  Finney  began  to  attract  wide  attention. 
This  unusual  man  was  a  native  of  Litchfield  county,  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
born  August  29,  1792.  He  was  just  two  years  old  when  his  father  emigrated 
to  Oneida  county.  New  York.  It  was  a  wilderness.  There  were  no  religious 
privileges  to  be  had.  No  religious  books  to  speak  of  were  obtainable.  The 
New  Englanders  established  schools,  but  the  preachers  and  the  preaching  excited 
the  ridicule  of  young  Finney  and  his  companions.  An  ignorant  and  fanatical 
type  of  exhorter  was  the  only  gospel  messenger  to  be  found  in  the  settlements. 
The  Finneys  removed  further  west  and  were  at  greater  disadvantage  spiritually 
than   ever.      At   the   age   of   twenty   young   Finney   was   completing   the   foundations 


212  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

of  his  education  and  preparation  as  a  teacher  in  New  England.  He  desired  to 
go  to  Yale  College,  but  he  fell  in  with  a  young  man  who  persuaded  him  to 
prepare  privately  and  to  go  with  him  as  a  teacher  to  the  South.  His  parents, 
however,  dissuaded  him  from  this  movement;  and  in  the  year  1818  he  began 
the  study   of  law   at   the  town   of   Adams,    Jefferson   county,   New   York. 

Mr.  Finney  says  he  was  a  stranger  to  the  influence  of  prayer  and  that  the 
preaching  he  heard  in  New  England  was  of  such  a  dry,  didactic  character  that  it 
made  no  favorable  impression  upon  him.  The  pastor  would  have  an  innumer- 
able set  of  proof  texts  to  read  during  the  sermon  and  held  the  Bible  in  both 
hands,  releasing  his  fingers  one  at  a  time  as  he  droned  and  mumbled  the  monot- 
onous repetition  of  points  supposed  to  be  elucidated.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
young  man  had  no  favorable  conception  of  a  spiritual  life,  much  less  any  idea 
of  himself  becoming  a  minister  of  the  gospel?  He  little  knew  at  the  time  that 
God  was  thus  familiarizing  him  with  the  dead  condition  of  Zion  in  order  to 
raise  him  up  as  a  prophet  of  the  Most  High.  He  began  to  read  the  Bible  when 
he  saw  references  to  the  Laws  of  Moses  in  the  statute  books.  This  induced 
him  to  purchase  the  first  Bible  he  ever  owned  and  he  read  other  portions  of  it 
with  much  profit  He  began  to  talk  with  the  local  Presbyterian  pastor,  who 
was  himself  a  dry-as-dust  type  of  preacher,  and  Finney  said  many  unmerciful 
things  to  him.  The  man  of  God  seemed  to  have  no  experimental  realization  of 
the  doctrines  he  was  preaching.  But  young  Finney  soon  discovered  that  he 
himself  was  far  out  at  sea;  and  a  great  anxiety  possessed  him  to  know  more 
of  the  vital  truth  of  religion.  He  was  especially  impressed  with  the  perfunc- 
tory type  of  prayers  offered  up  and  saw  that  the  people  who  made  them  did 
not  expect  an  answer.  He  attended  their  prayer  services  and  told  them  plainly 
that  he  did  not  wish  them  to  pray  for  him  as  they  had  no  power  with  God. 
Yet  all  the  time  he  was  feeling  his  way  along  like  a  man  in  utter  darkness 
seeking    the    light. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  October,  1821,  that  Mr.  Finney  came  to  a  crisis  in 
his  search  after  God.  He  experienced  all  the  symptoms  and  pains  and  despairs 
of  a  soul  shaken  with  the  terrors  of  the  law  and  redeemed  by  a  grace  so  amazing 
that  when  he  returned  from  the  woods  to  his  law  office  after  much  wrestling 
and  prayer,  he  had  a  vision  of  the  Lord  Jesus  that  lifted  him  into  the  seventh 
heaven  of  ecstacy  and  peace.  He  relinquished  all  attention  to  his  work  as  an 
attorney  and  told  his  associates  that  he  was  called  now  to  be  an  ambassador  of 
the  Most  High.  That  strange  magnetism  for  which  he  became  so  famous  pos- 
sessed him  from  the  very  first  evening  service  he  addressed  in  the  village  after  his 
conversion.  He  had  been  choir  leader  in  the  Presbyterian  church  and  the  revival 
broke  out  from  that  very  hour.  He  admits  in  his  autobiography  that  he  was 
enthused  to  such  an  extent  that  he  had  to  guard  against  a  nervous  break-down 
and  insanity;  but  this  was  the  powerful  emotional  crisis  he  had  passed  through. 
In  the  spring  of  1822  he  put  himself  under  the  care  of  the  local  Presbytery. 
He  declined  to  go  to  Princeton  Seminary  because  of  the  controversy  then  begin- 
ning to  rage  between  the  old  legalistic  and  the  new  school  views  of  evangelical 
truth.  He  had  talked  these  matters  over  very  fully  with  his  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Gale,  and  though  the  Presbytery  offered  to  defray  the  expense  of  his  the- 
ological course  at  Princeton,  Mr.  Finney  chose  to  prepare  for  licensure  under 
his  pastor  and  in  the  two  years  intervening  threshed  out  with  Mr.  Gale  tbj 
whole   range  of  doctrinal   points   between    the   Old   School   and   the   New.      He   was 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  2H 

positively  a  New  School  man,  and  the  Presbytery,  in  the  spring  of  1824,  very 
wisely  and  generously  passed  by  these  differences  of  opinion  and  licensed  him  on 
the  evidence  of  his  faith  and  work  as  a  clearly  called  man  of  God.  The  Pres- 
bytery of  Oneida  certainly  signalized  the  occasion  and  the  act,  for  they  testified 
that  the  evangelistic  movement  in  which  young  Finney  was  so  conspicuous  and 
powerful   was   pentecostal    in   depth   and   genuineness. 

This  Rev.  George  W.  Gale,  under  whose  ministry  Mr.  Finney  was  converted 
and  trained  up  into  his  great  life  work  as  an  evangelist,  was  a  decidedly  his- 
torical character.  He  had  come  to  the  pastorate  at  Adams,  N.  Y.,  in  1819,  and 
remanied  there  until  1826.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  noted  Oneida  Manual 
Labor  Institute,  at  Whitesboro,  N.  Y.,  which  had  such  an  immense  influence 
throughout  the  Western  States  about  that  time.  It  was  the  idea  of  the  old 
"school  of  the  prophets"  long  ago;  and  we  shall  presently  see  that  it  had  a 
fundamental  relation  to  the  founding  of  Lane  Seminary,  Oberlin  College,  Berea 
College,  and  to  the  gathering  anti-slavery  sentiment  and  movement  associated 
with  the  New  School  element  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  biographer  of 
Mr.  Finney  refers  to  the  hesitancy  of  Rev.  Mr.  Gale  to  openly  and  positively 
side  with  young  Finney  in  points  of  theology;  but  it  is  sufficient  for  us  to 
know  that  Mr.  Gale  became  more  and  more  imbued  with  the  New  School  inter- 
pretation, and  that  he  stamped  upon  young  Finney's  mind  and  soul  the  spiritual 
conceptions  of  human  labor  and  liberty  that  subsequently  enabled  Mr.  Finney  to 
build  better  than  he  knew  at  Oberlin.  Dr.  Gale,  like  John  Finley  Crowe,  and 
Gideon  Blackburn,  was  also  an  educational  pioneer  of  the  New  West,  as  he 
founded  Knox  College,   at   Galesburg,    111.,    in    1835. 

We  have  mentioned  the  rise  of  Charles  G.  Finney  as  a  contemporary  of 
Lyman  Beecher  at  Boston  because  the  New  School  Revival  Movement  springing 
up  in  New  York  State  at  this  time  drew  the  attention  of  the  New  England 
ministry  and  occasioned  a  great  deal  of  severe  censure  in  the  religious  press  because 
of  its  intensity  and  terrific  emotional  manifestations.  No  doubt  there  was  suffi- 
cient justification  for  this  objection,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nettleton,  of  New  Eng- 
land, a  bosom  friend  of  Lyman  Beecher  and  himself  an  evangelist  of  long  stand- 
ing and  success,  led  a  movement  to  counteract  and  discourage  what  we  would 
today  term  "primitive  traits  in  religious  revivals."  Dr.  Nettleton  and  Dr.  Beecher 
were,  of  course,  much  more  thoroughly  trained  in  general  culture  and  theology 
than  Mr.  Finney,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  unquestionably  discountenanced 
emotional  excess  in  the  conversion  of  souls.  This  Dr.  Nettleton  was  a  very 
gentle  and  persuasive  evangelist,  whereas  Charles  G.  Finney  was  as  bold  and  open 
as  a  lion.  Anyhow,  some  of  Lyman  Beecher's  confidential  correspondence  on  this 
controversy  got  into  print  and  made  Finney  feel  that  Nettleton  and  Beecher  were 
enemies  of  the  work  of  grace;  and  at  a  conference  called  on  the  subject  they  got 
no  closer  together,  though  Beecher  was  courteous  to  Finney  later  on  when  he 
came  to  Boston.  These  facts  are  of  interest  because  when  Lyman  Beecher  came 
West  a  few  years  later  to  head  Lane  Seminary,  and  Charles  G.  Finney  came  West 
also  to  build  up  Oberlin  College,  the  very  same  difference  of  spirit  and  method 
in  the  temperaments  of  the  two  men  of  God  manifested  itself  in  the  anti-slavery 
movement.  Dr.  Beecher  was  wise  and  strong  with  a  reserve  that  was  character- 
istically Presbyterian,  while  Finney  was  the  same  positive,  heroic,  flame-like 
evangel  of  human  liberty  that  he  had  been  back  in  the  frontier  towns  of  New 
York   State. 


214  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

THEODORE  WELD— THE  YOUNG  ABOLITIONIST 

The  most  gifted  and  powerful  Anti-Slavery  leader  among  the  early  students 
at  Lane  Seminary  and  Oberlin  College  was  Theodore  Weld.  He  seems  to  have 
been  a  promising  pupil  at  Phillips  Academy,  in  New  England,  the  son  of  a 
Presbyterian  or  Congregational  clergyman.  He  was  very  fond  of  the  boys  in 
the  class  ahead  of  him  and  endeavored  to  overtake  them  by  hard  study,  so  he 
could  join  them.  He  was  only  a  youth  of  seventeen  and  this  overtax  of  the  eyes 
nearly  precipitated  blindness.  He  was  dependent  on  his  own  exertions,  and  leav- 
ing school  he  set  out  on  a  lecturing  tour  through  Connecticut,  New  York,  Mary- 
land, Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Even  at  that  time  he  was  a  pleasing  and 
fluent  public  speaker.  Said  he,  "On  this  tour  I  saw  slavery  at  home  and  became 
a   radical   Abolitionist." 

Young  Weld's  eyes  were  still  much  affected  on  his  return  North  and  he  went 
to  Hamilton  College,  near  Utica,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had  an  uncle  and  where  a 
student  friend,  Kirkland  by  name,  insisted  that  he  could  help  Weld  to  save  his 
eyes  and  make  progress  in  his  studies.  He  shared  his  room  with  Weld  part  of 
the  time.  Weld's  uncle  died  in  the  spring  of  1826  and  he  went  to  Utica  to 
visit  his  aunt.  He  was  evidently  a  devout  young  man  because  he  led  family 
worship  at  his  aunt's.  But  report  of  the  revival  meeting  and  methods  of  Charles 
G.  Finney  at  that  time  in  Utica  had  created  a  most  unfavorable  impression  among 
the  faculty  and  students  of  Hamilton  College.  Weld  had  the  same  conception 
of  Finney  that  Rev.  Mr.  Nettleton  and  other  New  England  clergy  entertained. 
Weld  understood  that  the  terrorism  of  the  evangelist  had  unnerved  his  young 
cousin  at  Utica,  and  he  expressed  himself  in  strong  terms  against  the  meetings 
and  the  minister.  He  had  a  great  influence  among  the  students  and  turned  them 
against  Mr.  Finney  also.  But  young  Weld's  aunt  lived  next  door  to  where 
Mr.  Finney  was  staying,  and  as  she  was  a  strong  partisan  of  the  evangelist  she 
used  strategy  to  get  her  nephew  to  attend  a  day  service  when  he  did  not  antici- 
pate hearing  Mr.  Finney.  The  evangelist  was  secretly  posted  as  to  the  presence 
of  the  hostile  young  man  and  took  as  his  text,  "One  sinner  destroyeth  much 
good."  He  fastened  his  terrific  eyes  upon  young  Weld,  who  tried  to  leave  the 
church,  but  was  dissuaded  by  his  aunt.  It  is  the  testimony  of  both  Finney  and 
Weld   that   the   sermon    Was   personal    and   scathing. 

Next  day  Weld  was  in  a  store  passing  the  time  when  one  of  the  firm  informed 
Mr.  Finney.  He  came  over  and  encountered  Weld.  Some  exchange  of  words 
passed  between  them  when  Weld,  exasperatd  already  and  under  deep  conviction, 
scored  the  evangelist  roundly  in  the  presence  of  the  crowd  that  quickly  gathered. 
Mr.  Finney  says  their  meeting  was  not  premeditated  on  his  part  and  puts  the 
responsibility  for  the  disputation  entirely  upon  Weld,  though  confessing  that  he 
had  described  him  severely  in  the  sermon  of  the  previous  day.  The  argument 
went  on  for  some  time  until  Weld  lost  his  temper  completely  and  left  the  store 
with  a  cutting  remark  addressed  to  Mr.  Finney  who  returned  to  his  own  house. 
This  was  the  way  the  revival  worked  in  those  days.  Excitement,  discussion, 
argument,  rebellion,  abuse,  were  expected.  And  in  the  case  of  young  Weld  he 
soon  repented  of  his  encounter  with  Mr.  Finney  and  appeared  at  the  door  of  the 
residence.  When  the  evangelist  came  down  stairs  and  saw  the  young  man  he 
expressed  displeasure  and  surprise  as  though  Weld  had  followed  him  to  renew 
the  quarrel.  But  that  was  Finney's  way  of  "breaking  a  man  up"  spiritually, 
for    he    soon    saw    that    Weld    was    deeply    repentant,    threw    his    arms    about    him, 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  215 

drew  him  into  the  parlor,  and  down  upon  their  knees  in  prayer  and  tears,  Weld 
was   wonderfully   converted. 

From  that  hour,  throughout  the  entire  summer,  Mr.  Finney  had  no  stronger 
or  more  eloquent  assistant.  That  winter  Weld  took  an  invalid  brother  on  a 
trip  to  Labrador.  On  his  return  he  spent  several  weeks  in  Boston,  where  he 
met  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  and  came  under  his  inspiring  influence.  Thence  he  went 
to  the  Oneida  Manual  Labor  Institute,  near  Utica,  N.  Y..  presided  over  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Gale,  Mr.  Finney's  former  pastor.  Weld  acted  as  solicitor  of  funds  for  the 
endowment  of  the  institution  about  half  time  and  the  remainder  was  the  monitor 
of  the  dairy  class,  looking  after  about  thirty  cows  and  the  delivery  of  the  milk 
in  wagons  by  daybreak  each  morning.  A  dairy  barn  was  needed  and  Weld 
induced  a  farmer  of  the  neighborhood  who  had  but  little  faith  in  the  work  of 
the  students  to  donate  the  timber,  which  Weld  saw  prepared  and  built  up  into 
a  model  structure  with  student  labor. 

It  was  in  his  conversations  with  Charles  Beecher  that  Weld  gave  account  of 
these  experiences  before  entering  Lane  Seminary  as  a  student  for  the  ministry. 
His  distinction  as  an  Abolitionist  consists  in  his  clear  economic  and  moral  con- 
ception of  Labor  as  a  fundamental  of  human  society.  "In  July,  1831,"  he  says, 
a  National  Manual  Labor  Society  was  formed,  and  I  became  general  agent,  and 
traveled  and  lectured,  visiting  most  of  the  Manual  Labor  institutions  in  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Alabama.  I  also  lectured 
from  time  to  time  on  Temperance,  and  conversed  freely,  whenever  I  had  a  chance, 
with  young  men  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  Liberator  had  just  been  estab- 
lished then,  and  had  not  become  known,  and  there  was  entire  freedom  to  con- 
verse on  the  subject  everywhere,   provided  we  kept  out  of  hearing  of  the  slaves. 

"At  Huntsville,  Alabama,  I  became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Allen,  the  leading 
Presbyterian  minister  of  the  State,  a  slave-holder,  and  with  his  son,  who  had 
recently  graduated.  J.  G.  Birney  was  one  of  his  elders,  and  it  was  owing  to  my 
discussion  with  Dr.  Allen  that  he  was  led  to  think  on  the  subject  and  became  an 
Abolitionist.  During  this  tour  I  found  several  young  men  who  resolved  to 
come   to   Lane — among   others   the   son    of   Dr.    Allen." 

It  was  on  his  way  South  that  Weld  gave  ten  lectures  in  Cincinnati  on  the 
subject  of  Temperance,  and  several  on  the  Manual  Labor  Society.  He  drew  such 
crowds  that  larger  churches  were  required  to  hold  them.  In  the  autumn  on  his 
return  from  the  South  he  lectured  at  the  Seminary  on  the  Manual  Labor  theme. 
Mr.  Lane,  for  whom  the  institution  was  named,  heard  him,  as  well  as  other  lead- 
ing men.  A  closer  examination  of  this  record  kept  by  the  Beechers  proves  to 
be  an  account  of  young  Weld  taken  down  in  writing  by  Charles  Beecher  shortly 
after  hearing  it  from  Weld's  own  lips.  It  gives  a  vivid  insight  of  the  strong 
Anti-Slavery  sentiment  present  in  the  first  body  of  students,  of  whom  Weld 
was  easily  the  most  gifted  and  eloquent.  Referring  to  his  return  from  the  South 
and   his   efforts   in   the   Manual   Labor   Movement,    Weld   says: 

"I  went  on  to  New  York  and  made  my  report  in  January,  183  3,  and, 
while  in  New  York,  had  several  conversations  with  the  Tappans  and  others  inter- 
ested in  Anti-Slavery.  I  made  a  statement  of  the  results  of  my  observation. 
I  remember  telling  them  I  knew  of  a  number  who  were  coming  from  the 
Southern  States  to  Lane,  besides  many  of  the  Oneida  Institute  boys;  for  we  had 
heard  of  your  father's  appointment  (Dr.  Lyman  Beecher),  and  had  spoken  some 
of    going    to    Lane.       At    that    time    I    was    planning    to    establish    a    great    Manual 


216  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

Labor  Intsitution  somewhere,  and  liberal  offers  had  been  made  by  gentlemen  ar 
Rochester.       I    had    been    on    the    ground,    and    spent    some    days    looking    at    sites 

in   the   vicinity But    when    I    went    through    the   West    and    South. 

and  saw  the  situation  of  Lane  Seminary,  I  was  satisfied  that  was  the  place  for  us. 
I  developed,  in  conversation  with  the  Tappans,  my  views  on  slavery,  and  my 
intention  to  improve  the  excellent  opportunity  lo  introduce  Anti-Slavery  senti- 
ments,   and    have    the    whole    subject    thoroughly    discussed. 

"After  a  brief  visit  to  my  father,  who  then  resided  near  Oneida,  sometime 
in  May,  1834,  H.  B.  Stanton,  Samuel  Wells,  Ezra  A.  Poole,  and  I  bought  a 
boat  for  six  dollars,  and  went  down  French  Creek  and  the  Alleghany  River  to 
Pittsburg.  We  had  good  times  discussing  Anti-Slavery,  and  stopping  occasionally 
to  get  supplies,  hold  prayer-meetings,  or  find  a  place  to  sleep.  If  we  could  not, 
we  got  along  in  our  boat.  At  Pittsburg  we  took  deck  passage  to  Cincinnati. 
You  know  deck  passengers  pay  nothing,  find  themselves,  sleep  on  the  deck,  and 
help  'wood.'  I  believe  there  were  some  other  of  the  Oneida  boys  that  hired  on 
board   of  flat-boats,    and   earned   some   money   to   begin   their   studies." 

Shortly  after  Weld  entered  Lane  Seminary  he  became  the  hero  of  the 
terrible  cholera  scourge,  of  which  he  left  a  thrilling  account.  He  proceeded  in 
his  purpose  to  upbuild  Lane  as  a  great  Manual  Labor  Institution,  whose  students 
could  be  one  by  one  personally  imbued  with  Anti-Slavery  sentiment  and  given 
such  a  vision  of  human  freedom  that  victory  would  duly  be  assured.  He  and  the 
young  men  with  him  were  greatly  admired  and  beloved  by  Dr.  Beecher,  who  was 
himself  a  reasonable  Abolitionist;  but  he  advised  judicious  procedure  in  their 
uplift  work  among  the  Negro  population  of  Cincinnati.  Dr.  Beecher  did  not 
disapprove  the  Anti-Slavery  organization  and  discussion  among  the  students; 
but  when  he  and  Prof.  Stowe  went  East  in  the  summer  of  1834  the  trustees 
of  Lane  became  alarmed  at  the  meetings  and  discussions  of  the  students  and 
prohibited  them.  As  a  result  Theodore  Weld  and  his  associates  withdrew 
and    went    to    Oberlin. 


CHAPTER   XLII 


^§itnx^  W^mxh  %tt€^tx  mi  ^aimttttfthtix®, 


^\m\  USSELL  H.  CONWELL  heard  Henry  Ward  Beecher  in  the  Plymouth 
I        \^J       Church    pulpit    when    he    was    a    boy,    and    he    never    forgot    the    time 

I  \  and  occasion.      He   even   saw   Beecher   auction   off   the  slave   girl    from 

^  the  South  to  set  her  free.  The  Plymouth  Church  in  those  days  was 
one  of  the  most  powerful  spiritual  centers  in  the  world;  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
was  more  talked  of  than  his  now  famous  spiritual  successor,  S.  Parkes  Cadman. 
Dr.  Conwell  in  later  years  got  to  know  Beecher  personally  and  often  reported  his 
sermons.  Dr.  Conwell  says  Beecher  often  reverted  in  memory  and  sentiment  to 
the  early  simplicity  and  struggle  of  his  first  pastorate  at  the  little  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana.  He  told  young  Conwell  that  they  were  the 
happiest    days    of    his    whole    ministry: 

"In  that  little  church  where  there  were  no  lamps,  and  he  had  to  borrow 
them  himself,  and  prepare  the  church  for  the  first  service.  He  told  how  he  swept 
the  church,  lighted  the  fire  in  the  stove,  and  how  it  smoked.  Then  how  he 
sawed  the  wood  to  heat  the  church,  and  how  he  went  into  carpenter  work  to 
earn  money  to  pay  his  own  salary;  yet  he  said  that  was  the  happiest  time  of  his 
life.  Mrs.  Beecher  told  me  afterwards  that  Mr.  Beecher  often  talked  about  those 
days  and  said  that  bye  and  bye  he  would  retire  and  they  would  again  go  back  to 
the  simple  life  they  had  enjoyed  so  much." 

VALUE   OF  THE   VILLAGE  CHURCH 

This  idea  of  Beecher  was  not  a  mere  sentimental  reminiscence.  It  was  a 
fundamental  democratic  instinct  to  get  down  close  to  common  humanity  as  Jesus 
did.  We  find  Beecher  saying  to  the  young  divinity  students  at  Yale  in  his 
"Lectures  on  Preaching:"  "When  a  young  man  is  just  going  out,  and  is 
beginning  to  preach,  and  men  find  great  hopes  in  him,  one  of  the  worst  things 
that  can  befall  him  is  to  think  himself  an  uncommon  man,  a  man  of  prospects; 
and  to  have  it  whispered  here  and  there,  'O,  he  will  shake  the  world  yet.'  These 
things  are  very  mischievous  to  a  young  man.  *  *  *  When  you  enter  upon 
the  work  of  the  ministry  it  is  very  desirable  that  you  should  take  a  small  sphere, 
even  if  you  afterward  are  called  to  a  larger  one.  You  should  begin  at  the  bot- 
tom." 

Beecher  added  that,  "If  I  were  Pope  in  America,  besides  a  hundred  other 
things  that  would  be  done,  I  would  send  every  young  man  that  was  anxious  to 
preach  into  the  extreme  West,  and  I  would  make  him  think  that  he  was  never 
coming  back  again.  He  should  work  there  for  ten  years;  then  I  think  he  might 
begin  to  be  ready  for  a  larger  place,  or  an  older  church." 

A  very  clear  and  convincing  reason  was  given  for  thus  beginning  in  a  small 
parish-      "One  especial   advantage  of  a   small   parish   is   that  you   are  obliged   to   do 


218 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


HENRY     WARD     BEECHER 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW 


219 


your  work  by  knowing  every  person  in  the  community,  studying  every  one  of 
them,  and  knowing  how  to  impress  and  manage  them  by  your  personal  influ- 
ence and  the  power  of  the  gospel."  Beecher  then  gave  the  young  men  a  graphic 
description  of  his  experience  as  a   young  pastor  at  Lawrenceburg,    Indiana: 

"It  was  my  lot  at  first  to  be  placed  in  a  village  with  a  mere  handful  of 
inhabitants  in  one  of  the  Western  States.  I  conceive  it  to  be  one  of  the  kind- 
nesses of  Providence  that  I  was  sent  to  so  small  a  place.  I  had  but  one  male 
member  in  the  church,  and  I  wished  him  out  all  the  time  I  was  there.  *  *  * 
I   went  to  a  small   town   in   Indiana,   the  last   one   in   the   State   towards  Cincinnati, 


First   Presbyterian   Church  and   Manse  at  the   present   time 


on  the  Ohio  River.  It  had  perhaps  five  or  six  hundred  inhabitants.  It  had  in 
it  a  Methodist,  a  Baptist  and  this  Presbyterian  Church  to  which  I  went.  The 
church  would  hold,  perhaps,  from  250  to  ^00  people.  It  had  no  lamps  and 
no  hymn  books.  It  had  19  female  members;  and  the  whole  congregation  could 
hardly  raise  from  $200  to  $250  as  salary.  I  took  that  field  and  went  to  work 
in    it. 


220 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF  LINCOLN 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW 


221 


NEW   LAMPS   AND   HYMN   BOOKS 

"Among  the  earliest  things  I  did  was  to  beg  money  from  Cincinnati  to  buy 
side  lamps  to  hang  up  in  the  church,  so  that  we  could  have  night  service.  After 
being  there  a  month  or  two  I  went  to  Cincinnati  again,  and  collected  money 
enough   to   buy   hymn    books.      I    distributed    them    in    the    seats.      Before    this    the 


REV.    FOREST    C.    TAYLOR 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church.  Lawreneeburg-,  who 
has  done  so  much  to  restore  and  preserve  the  Beecher  tra- 
dition   and   history    in    our    own    day. 


hymns  had  been  lined  out.  I  recollect  one  of  the  first  strokes  of  management 
I  ever  attempted  in  that  parish  was  in  regard  to  those  hymn  books.  Instead  of 
asking  the  people  if  they  were  willing  to  have  them,  I  just  put  the  books  into 
the  pews;  for  there  are  ten  men  who  will  fight  a  change  about  which  they  are 
consulted,  to  one  that  will  fight  it  when  it  has  taken  place.  I  simply  made 
the  change  for  them.  There  was  a  little  looking  up  and  looking  around,  but 
nothing   was  said.      So  after   that    we  sang   out   of   the   books. 

"Then    there    was    nobody    in    the   church    to    light    the    lamps,    and    they    could 
not  afford  to  get  a  sexton.      Such  a  thing  was  unknown   in   the  primitive  simplic- 


222  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

ity  of  that  Hoosier  time.  Well,  I  unanimously  elected  myself  to  be  the  sexton. 
I  swept  out  the  church,  trimmed  the  lamps  and  lighted  them.  I  was  literally 
the  light  of  that  church.  I  didn't  stop  to  groan  about  it,  or  moan  about  it. 
but  I  did  it.  At  first  the  men  folks  thereabout  seemed  to  think  it  was  chaff 
to  catch  them  with,  or  something  of  that  kind;  but  I  went  steadily  on  doing 
the  work.  After  a  month  or  so  two  young  men,  who  were  clerks  in  a  store 
there,  suggested  to  me  that  they  would  help  me.  I  didn't  think  I  wanted  any 
help;  it  was  only  what  one  man  could  do.'  Then  they  suggested  three  or 
four  of  us  taking  one  month  each,  and  in  that  way  they  were  worked  in.  It 
was  the  best  thing  that  ever  happened  to  them.  Having  something  to  do  was 
a   means   of   grace   to   them." 

HIS   FIRST   REVIVAL 

It  was  a  fundamental  dictum  of  Beecher's  that,  "If  you  are  going  to  be  a 
minister,  keep  very  close  to  plain  folks:  don't  get  above  the  common  people." 
After  preaching  two  and  a  half  years  at  Lawrenceburg  the  call  came  to  Indian- 
apolis. He  was  very  much  discontented  and  quite  discouraged  because  there  was 
such  a  poor  response  to  his  sacramental  services.  He  expected  better  results. 
He  prayed  .and  toiled  over  his  sermons  until  at  length  he  discovered  the  secret 
expressed  by  the  old  darkey  preacher  who  said,  "You  fust  splanify,  den  you 
argufy,  an'  den  you  puts  on  de  rousins."  Seventeen  men  were  brought  to  God 
by  that  sermon.  But  Beecher  confessed  to  the  divinity  students  that  he  never 
caught  the  spirit  and  power  of  revival  evangelism  until  after  a  great  experience 
over  at  Terre  Haute.  He  returned  to  Indianapolis  and  announced  a  series  of  night 
services  in  his  own  church.  One  night  it  stormed,  and  other  nights  but  little 
interset  was  manifest  until  an  humble  servant  girl  with  the  smell  of  the  kitchen 
and  of  cooking  in  her  clothes,  remained  as  an  inquirer.  He  went  back  with  a 
sinking  heart  and  a  disappointment  of  pride  to  that  single  soul;  but  in  talking 
to   her  he   was  himself   reawakened,    and   then   the   revival   began   in   earnest. 

The  whole  aim  of  Beecher  was  to  get  at  the  hearts  of  men  and  women.  He 
told  the  story  of  a  man  in  Lawrenceburg  who  lived  across  the  street  from  the 
Beechers  and  had  conceived  a  violent  prejudice  against  the  young  preacher.  The 
bitter  things  he  allowed  himself  to  utter  only  hardened  him  the  more  against 
Beecher.  But  the  young  pastor  ventured  into  the  man's  store  time  after  time 
until  this  prejudice  was  conquered;  and  when  the  Beechers  left  to  go  to  Indian- 
apolis two  years  afterward  this  man  took  them  into  his  own  house  for  a  week, 
and  after  that  he  could  never  mention  the  young  preacher's  name  without  crying. 
Beecher  said  that  in  those  days  he  traveled  the  woods  and  hills  and  prairies  with 
the  Book  of  Acts  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul  in  his  hand  and  he  went  from  camp- 
meeting  to  camp-meeting  and  from  one  log  hut  to  another  with  the  gospel  of 
salvation    and    consolation. 

FIRST  SERMON  ON  SLAVERY 

It  was  at  Indianapolis  that  he  first  addressed  himself  seriously  to  the  subject 
of  slavery.  At  the  time  nobody  dared  speak  out  in  the  pulpit  upon  the  subject. 
One  of  his  elders  told  him  that  if  an  Abolitionist  came  to  town  he  would  head 
a  mob  to  put  him  down.  That  roused  Beecher.  He  determined  that  such  a 
social   issue  ought   to   be  preached    upon;    but    he   went   about   it   judiciously,    using 


THE    OLD    SOUTH    IN    THE    NEW  22) 

illustrations  with  good  sense  but  undoubted  point  and  in  due  season  he  was 
enabled  to  launch  forth  courageously  as  upon  any  other  great  theme  of  human 
well-being  or  betterment.  He  used  to  say  that  he  never  heard  such  heartfelt 
prayers  as  the  Negro  believers  made  in  Indianapolis.  He  insisted  that  the  gift 
of  prayer  was  from  God  like  the  gift  of  song  or  poetry;  and  he  got  very,  very 
close  to  vital  truth  as  he  studied  the  religious  instincts  and  the  social  conditions 
of  the  race  in  bondage.  Beechcr  said  he  noticed  his  father  becoming  cautious 
and  politic  as  the  years  of  old  age  crept  upon  him.  So  the  son  took  counsel  of 
his  own  soul  and  made  up  his  mind  to  be  unfettered  on  the  underlying  evil  of 
free  America.  It  was  this  resolution,  made  when  he  went  to  Plymouth  Church 
from  Indianapolis,  that  soon  made  him  the  mightiest  man  of  God  for  human 
freedom  in  the  English  speaking  world.  He  had  the  platform  of  Plymouth 
Church  so  built  that  he  was  within  touch  of  his  auditors  clear  around  the  great 
assembly  hall;    and  he  opened  his  heart   and  soul   to  them   like  a  book. 

In  September,  1921,  the  Rev.  Forest  C.  Taylor,  pastor  of  the  Lawrenceburg, 
Indiana,  Presbyterian  Church,  conducted  a  notable  memorial  of  Beecher  days  in 
Lawrenceburg  by  publishing,  with  the  assistance  of  "The  Beecher  Club"  of  his 
church,  a  special  edition  of  the  "Lawrenceburg  Press."  This  edition  contained 
sketches  and  illustrations  of  great  historic  value.  Mr.  Taylor  has  very  kindly 
put  a  copy  of  this  paper  in  our  hands.  From  it  we  learn  that  the  Lawrence- 
burg church  was  organized  Sunday  morning,  September  27.  1829,  by  Rev. 
Sylvester  Scovel.  The  Presbytery  of  Oxford  received  the  new  body  of  believers 
under  its  care  October  2,  1829.  The  old  brick  building  in  which  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  began  his  ministry  is  thought  to  have  been  built  in  the  year  1831.  Rev. 
Alexander  McFarlane  and  Rev.  Charles  Sturdevant  were  Beecher's  pastoral  pre- 
decessors. He  came  to  Lawrenceburg  in  May,  1837.  Mr.  Taylor,  the  present 
pastor,  has  been  very  diligent  in  keeping  alive  the  Beecher  tradition,  and  the 
"Beecher  Club"  of  men  has  been  a  forceful  and  forward  looking  social  group. 
The  pastor's  wife  has  been  equally  diligent  in  her  work  with  the  women's  organ- 
izations; and  the  ministery  and  service  of  these  two  will  long  be  remembered  in 
Lawrenceburg. 

The  outstanding  contribution  to  the  anniversary  edition  of  the  "Press"  is 
an  article  on  Henry  Ward  Beecher  by  Lydia  A.  Sembach.  It  is  a  vivid  and 
characterizing  sketch  and  preserves  for  posterity  whatever  Beecher  traditions 
exist  in  Lawrenceburg.  She  tells  the  story  of  his  pastorate  as  follows:  "After 
graduating  from  Lane  Seminary  in  1837,  young  Beecher  at  the  age  of  24  ac- 
cepted the  pastorate  of  an  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  at  Lawrenceburg, 
Indiana.  This  church  stood  where  the  local  Presbyterian  Church  now  stands. 
A  picture  of  the  old  church  may  be  seen  hanging  on  the  walls  of  the  present 
building.  Here  Beecher  with  his  devoted  wife  labored  for  two  and  a  quarter  years 
and   here   it   was   that   he    made   his   mark." 


CHAPTER   XLIII 


w\t  ?B«4«-piifi0tt  Waitit  nw  mib  #4001 


mmh  pi#m 


m\  N  THE  fall  of  1889,  shortly  after  the  writer's  entrance  as  a  freshman 
fy  ^1  at  Centre  College,  Danville,  Kentucky,  we  met  a  young  man  in  a 
X^  J  class  or  two  ahead  of  us.  He  was  a  youth  above  the  middle  height, 
graceful  and  dignified  in  figure,  with  dark  red  hair  and  keen  dark 
eyes.  His  expression  was  serious  to  the  point  of  sadness  or  melancholy,  a  rather 
brooding  meditativeness  and  cloistered  seclusion  at  his  studies.  His  name  was 
Wilson,  and  we  recognized  him  at  once  as  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Wilson, 
D.  D.,  formerly  of  Louisville,  who  was  the  John  C.  Calhoun  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  great  issues  of  Civil  War  times  and  after.  As  our 
father  was  a  warm  admirer  of  Dr.  Wilson  and  had  shared  a  friendship  of  many 
years  in  the  same  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  and,  indeed,  had  participated  in  the 
sensational  events  of  the  ex-communication  of  this  Presbytery  in  the  division  fol- 
lowing the  mandate  of  the  General  Assembly,  U.  S.  A.,  and  had  followed  Dr. 
Wilson's  party  into  the  organization  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  U.  S. — it  was 
natural  that  an  immediate  friendship  upon  our  part  with  young  Wilson  should 
ensue.  Our  own  personal  sympathies  were  entirely  with  what  we  then  called 
the  Northern  Assembly  and  National  Unity;  but,  of  course,  we  had  heard  our 
father  relate  the  circumstances  of  the  division  of  the  church,  and  to  us  it  seemed 
a   very   painful    necessity. 

YOUTH   AND   THE   AFTERMATH   OF   WAR 

These  matters  were  a  subject  of  frequent  conversation  with  us  as  we  strolled 
of  evenings  together  and  talked  of  our  own  dreams  of  the  future.  Young  Wilson 
had  been  a  student  for  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  but  at  this  time  was  about  de- 
termined to  study  Law.  Our  own  preference  was  then  law  or  journalism,  though 
the  gospel  ministry  was  the  one  great  undecided  issue  in  our  heart.  Political 
distinction  was  the  ambition  inculcated  in  every  aspiring  youth  in  those  days 
when  the  sentiments  and  ideals  of  the  Old  South  yet  dominated  the  ministry 
law,  and  journalism.  At  the  close  of  our  freshman  year  an  event  occurred  that 
gave   the    unexpected    impetus    to    our    thought. 

STUDYING  THE   GREAT  STRUGGLE 

We  were  put  with  young  Wilson,  and  another  theological  student  of  unusual 
ability  to  debate  with  a  rival  literary  society  team  upon  the  question:  "Resolved 
that  the  Indian  has  suffered  more  at  the  hands  of  the  white  man  than  has  the 
Negro."  We  were  averse  to  the  negative.  It  was  more  poetic  and  popular  to 
espouse    the    cause    of    the    Red    Man.       The    Negro    was    repulsive    to    the    instincts 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW 


225 


and  prejudices  of  speakers,  judges  and  audience.  But  a  very  clever  manipulation 
of  sides,  and  selection  of  judges  by  our  chief  antagonist,  left  us  no  alternative 
but  the  negative.  So  we  went  to  the  library  and  dug  in  for  material.  It  was 
forth-coming.  Musty  old  volumes,  unopened  for  years,  revealed  the  horrors  of 
the  African  Slave  Trade  and  the  crying  injustice  of  chattel  bondage  the  world 
over.  Our  human  sympathies  slowly  kindled  with  horror  and  indignation  at 
these  outrages  upon  an  ignorant,  alien,  and  defenseless  race  of  human  beings. 
Wilson  had  no  particular  enthusiasm  in  the  debate,  and  the  leadership  fell  to  us. 
We  felt  handicapped  and  chagrined  at  the  patent  prejudice  of  the  audience  and 
judges,  but  we  told  the  story  of  black  bondage  in  a  way  that  struck  home.  We 
lost   the  debate  but   gained   an   awakened   social   conscience   far   beyond   our   years. 


REV.    JOSHUA    L.    WILSON,    D.    D. 


SAMUEL   R.   WILSON 

We  were  well  aware  at  the  very  threshold  of  life  that  this  question  of  human 
labor  was  the  root  issue  of  the  whole  Civil  War  tragedy.  Young  Wilson  inher- 
ited the  gifts  of  his  brilliant  and  fearless  father,  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  author 
of    the    famous    "Declaration    and    Testimony."       He    was    a    native    of    Cincinnati, 


226 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


REV.   THOMAS  CLELAND,    D.   D. 

Early  school-mate  and  intimate  friend  of  Rev.  Joshua  L.  "Wilson,  D.  D. 
First  Presbyterian  minister  on  the  soil  of  Indiana  Territory,  Preached,  as  the 
guest  of  General  and  Mrs.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  in  the  council  chamber  at 
Vincennes,  in  the  spring-  of  1805.  From  this  service  and  a  second  visit  one  year 
later  the  Vincennes  Church  originated.  Dr.  Cleland  was  a  strong-  New  School 
man  and  led  that  side  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  From  him  were  descended 
3  1    ministers   of   the    gospel    in    100    years. 

Rev.  E.  P.  Whallon,  D.  D.,  of  Cincinnati,  who  was  pastor  of  the  Vincennes 
Church  for  about  10  years,  says  that  Dr.  Cleland  baptized  John  Scott  Harri- 
son, infant  child  of  -General  and  Mrs.  Harrison.  Later  at  the  Cleves  Church. 
North  Bend,  Ohio,  above  Lawreneeburg,  lnd.,  Gen.  Harrison  was  Bible  Class 
teacher  and  church  trustee.  "John  Scott  grew  up  to  be  an  elder,  Sabbath 
School)  Superintendent,  Congressman,  and  eight  of  his  grandchildren  were 
baptized  in  that  Cleves  Church,  one  of  them  being  Benjamin  Harrison*  who. 
from   Indiana,    went   to    the   Presidency    of   the   United    States." 

Dr.  Whallon  told  us  also,  at  the  Hanover  College  Centennial,  that  his 
father  suggested  to  the  parents  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  the  great  Civil  War 
Governor  oT  Indiana,  that  they  send  their  son  to  Miami  University.  Oxford. 
Ohio.  Here  he  was  under  the  Anti-Slavery  tradition  of  President  Robert  IT. 
Bishop,  who  was  the  friend  and  biographer  of  Father  David  Rice  the  great 
Kentucky    Emancipation    preacher. 

Dr.  Whallon  said  also  thai  his  grandfather  left  Virginia  for  Indiana  to 
get  away  from  slavery,  and  that  his  mother  cradled  and  nursed  him  in  the 
Sentiment    of    Abolition 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW 


22 


Ohio,  born  June  4.  1818.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Hanover  College,  Indiana,  in 
the  class  of  1836.  and  was  educated  for  the  ministry  at  Princeton  Seminary 
He  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  where  our  father  was 
born,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  m  1842.  His  Southern 
ancestry  and  descent  inclined  his  sympathies  entirely  with  the  Old  South.  It 
would  astonish  you  to  see  how  many  Wilsons  there  have  been  in  the  Presby- 
terian ministry.  And  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Wilson  was  second  to  none  of  them  in 
logic  and  eloquence.  He  would  easily  have  adorned  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  We  have  always  thought  this  fact  had  much  to  do  with  his  son,  Jud^e 
Samuel  M.  Wilson,  our  college-mate,  giving  up  the  ministry  and  studying  law 
He  has  put  in  our  hands  the  story  of  his  father's  life  and  ministry;  and  we  have 
prepared  with  judicious  care  the  untold  story  of  Judge  Wilson's  no  less  ab^e  and 
distinguished  grandfather  in  one  of  the  most  famous  controversies  of  the  old 
anti-slavery   struggle. 

LYMAN  BEECHER  MEETS  HIS  ANTAGONIST 
The  story  of  the  Beechers  in  the  Middlewest  during  the  great  anti-slavery 
struggle  of  one  hundred  years  ago  has  never  been  fully  or  fairly  told  Yet  the 
twenty  years  that  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  spent  at  Lane  Seminary  in  Cincinnati  were 
the  most  momentous  spiritual  years  that  preceded  the  Civil  War.  In  those  years 
he   crowned    a    life-time   of   service    in    behalf    of    human    faith    and    freedom        In 

dtTnclT  a7TnH  TS  hiS  bun"'ant  S°n'  H™ry  W"d  BeKh"'  "°-  «°  °**»* 
d.st  neon   and   leadersh.p   ,n    the   same   great   movement   to    liberalize   religion    and 

rha     bitte      "     7    tUdC  1"    Ameri"-      ThC    h'dde"    Md    '<>»*-"*>«««.  "story    of 
ha     b.tter  and  determined  conflict   is  slowly   com.ng   to   light   in   the  Oh.o  Valley 

Lode  M  hlSt°nan   UnCarths  k-      And  in   "»<  dramatic  story  no 

Re    h  fT    ,T    3nd    thri"'ng    tha"    the    b>"h    ro^>    between    Dr     Lyman 

r  nctn^t     f        „  L"y   W"SOn     PaSt°r   °f   thC   F-   P-^'»-    Church 

n  "  H    nM    n     yCarMhc  m3n   *h°  ^ares   the   h.storic   distinct.on   of  hav.ng 

"e^gT"    **   ^    '"    '"    ^    "*    N"    ^    "»-    *    « 

JOSHUA    LACY    WILSON 

whoDdrieHWi'rn   Z3S  '   "atlVe   °f   Vlrgima'      His   fath"   ™   a   -"ured    Physician 
who  d.ed  when  h,s  son   was  a  wee  lad  of  four  years.      The  widowed  mother  had 
only  a  worn  B.ble.  a  copy  of  Watts  Hymns,  and  a  Westminster  Shorter  Cateh.sm 
W.th  these  she  gave  her  chtldren   the  rudiments  of  an  education.      Not   .ong   Tr 

oln   T  m°o    '     f'ab'S  ft "  tHC  m°ther  ma"iCd  a8ain'      H"  — d  husband   w 

John   Temp  ,»     father  of  Rev.   Terah   Templin.    the   firs,    Presbyterian   preacher   in 

the   wdds   of   Kentucky.      It    was   in    the    vear    1779    that    the   stepfather    venture 

cross  .he  mounta.ns  into  Kentucky.      In   ,781    little  Joshua  went  with  his  mother 

o  the  new  country,  be.ng  at  the  time  but  seven  years  of  age.      They  had  to  dwe.l 

or  so    t     „    picketed  fort  on  SaIt  Rivcr  cMed         .;        dw; 

not   for  his  father  s  people. 

STORY  OF    'OLD  SILVER  FIST" 

of  rL!hlDb°y    r°ShUa/^e    °f    UnUSUjl    *™«Y-       His    mother    was    a    sister 
of   the  Rev.    Drury   Lacy   of    Virginia,    a    most    remarkable   man   of   God.      She    was 


228  THE  FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

a  devout  Baptist  when  her  first  husband  married  her;  but  she  soon  after  con- 
nected herself  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Her  brother  was  left  with  this 
sister  by  a  father  who  was  a  planter  in  good  circumstances,  but  who  was  a  hos- 
pitable, careless,  easy-going  gentleman  of  the  old  school  and  let  his  fortune  slip 
between  his  fingers.  Young  Drury  was  about  ten  years  old  when  his  father 
died.  His  schooling  had  been  fairly  good  under  an  Episcopal  clergyman;  but  a 
great  misfortune  had  overtaken  the  boy  between  his  tenth  and  fifteenth  years. 
At  a  muster  drill  of  the  county  militia  some  heedless  man  had  loaded  his  gun 
to  a  dangerous  extent  and  was  too  cowardly  to  fire  it  off  himself.  Handing  it 
to  the  boy  bystander  without  a  word  of  warning,  young  Lacy  took  it  and  fired 
it  without  hesitation.  The  explosion  mangled  his  left  hand  and  tore  it  off  at 
the  wrist.  The  boy's  life  was  saved  and  his  family  had  a  silver  cup  made  to 
go  over  the  wrist,  to  which  cup  was  fitted  a  silver  fork  and  spoon,  screwed  in 
very  ingeniously.  In  succeeding  years  when  he  became  an  instructor  of  youth 
at  Hampden  Sidney  College  and  proved  very  popular,  the  boys  nick-named  him 
"Old  Silver  Fist."  In  the  Presbyterian  Church  he  was  known  as  "Lacy  with 
the  silver  hand   and   the   silver   tongue." 


YOUNG    WILSON    AWAKENS 

It  was  for  this  great  preacher  and  teacher,  the  favorite  brother  of  his  mother, 
that  Joshua  Wilson  bore  the  middle  name  of  Lacy.  This  great  uncle  wrote  a 
most  beautiful  hand,  which  made  him  famous  as  a  keeper  of  records  in  Old 
Hanover  Presbytery,  Virginia,  most  of  his  life.  He  was  Moderator  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1809.  This  man  was  one  of  the  great  orators  of  his  day 
in  the  pulpit.  He  but  rarely  wrote  out  a  sermon.  He  read  the  chapter  and  the 
hymn  and  spoke  in  his  discourse  with  matchless  eloquence.  He  had  an  imposing 
presence  and  is  said  to  have  been  unrivaled  in  a  sacramental  service  or  at  a 
wedding  ceremony.  He  was  a  great  scholar  and  linguist  and  president  of  Hamp- 
den Sidney  College.  With  such  an  example,  is  it  any  wonder  that  young  Joshua 
Wilson — who  up  to  the  time  he  was  22  years  of  age,  after  removing  to  Ken- 
tucky, was  employed  in  cutting  down  trees,  grubbing  underbrush,  raising  crops, 
and  hunting  game  for  the  family   table — should  dream   of  an  education? 

He  did  a  lot  of  thinking  while  at  his  toil;  and  was  not  only  converted  but 
determined  to  study  for  the  ministry.  He  attended  Pisgah  Academy,  the  Pres- 
byterian "Log  College"  in  Woodford  County,  Kentucky.  Here  he  was  a  class- 
mate of  Rev.  Thomas  Cleland,  who  describes  him  as  a  tall,  full-grown  youth 
with  a  mind  of  promise  and  a  will  to  learn.  Dr.  Cleland  mentions  in  the  same 
connection  a  peculiar  Scotch-Irish  impulsiveness  or  heat  of  temperament  that  made 
this  young  man  Wilson  a  very  strong  and  determined  opponent  in  private  dis- 
cussion or  public  debate.  Dr.  Cleland  says  he  was  very  impctous.  though  he 
afterward  softened  down  and  even  mollified  the  feelings  of  an  antagonist  by 
deference  and  apology.  It  should  be  mentioned  also  in  this  same  connection  that 
the  young  man  one  day  in  cold  weather  nearly  lost  his  life  and  health  by  plung- 
ing into  the  water  to  save  a  friend's  life  from  drowning.  The  exposure  weak- 
ened an  otherwise  vigorous  constitution  so  that  his  later  years  were  full  of  pain 
and  suffering.  He  impaired  his  health  further,  his  grandson  says,  by  rising  to 
study  before  day.  Yet  it  was  this  very  determination  and  diligence  that  soon 
made  him   a   master  scholar   and   theologian. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW 


229 


HOW  LYMAN   BEECHER   CAME    TO    LANE    SEMINARY 

Dr.  Beecher  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Lane 
in  the  fall  of  1830.  Lane  was  chartered  in  1829,  but  the  endowment  was  small 
and  the  agents  sent  out  to  collect  funds  returned  empty-handed.  Dr.  Wilson  was 
President  of  the  Board  and  said  he  had  but  little  confidence  in  help  from  East- 
ern men  and  money.      He   wanted   to   find  professors  and   funds   in   the  West. 

Rev.  F.  Y.  Vail,  an  Eastern  man  himself  and  a  member  of  the  Board,  said 
he  could  not  agree  with  Dr.  Wilson  on  this  point,  and  the  Board  put  it  up  to 
Mr.  Vail  to  go  East  after  an  endowment  and  Dr.  Beecher.  Dr.  Wilson  said 
"Amen."  He  was  sucessful  in  securing  Dr.  Beecher  and  $20,000  from  the  Tap- 
pan    philanthrophy — the    benevolent    Abolitionist    Brothers,    whose    hearts    yearned 


First  Presbyterian  Church,  Vincennes,  Indiana,  where  the  Centennial  Ses- 
sion of  the  Synod  of  Indiana  was  so  hospitably  entertained  in  October,  1926, 
by    the    Rev.    J.    W.    Boyer,    pastor. 


to  see  the  social  conscience  of  young  divinity  students  at  Lane  Seminary  made 
alive  to  the  evils  of  African  Slavery.  Deep  down,  this  was  the  objection  that 
Dr.  Wilson  scarcely  dreamed  of  encountering  when  he  sanctioned  the  coming  of 
Lyman  Beecher  to  Lane.  But  the  cause  of  his  coming  was  greater  than  that. 
When   Rev.    Mr.    Vail    reached    Boston    Dr.    Beecher   had   been    talking   and   speaking 


230  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

of  helping  the  New  West  in  raising  up  men  of  God  on  the  home  ground  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  the  regions  around.  And  one  day  when  Dr.  Bcccher  was 
coming  down  to  take  a  North  River  boat  in  Boston,  he  encountered  a  crowd 
of  people  gathered  around  a  skeptic  fellow  who  was  arguing  against  religion 
and  had  about  bested  his  antagonist,  who  was  no  match  for  him.  Dr.  Beecher 
stepped  up  and  accosted  the  skeptic  in  an  offhand  way  that  soon  disarmed  and 
discomfited  him.  This  story  got  back  to  Arthur  Tappan  the  philanthrophist. 
and  when  Mr.  Vail  approached  Mr.  Tappan  about  Dr.  Beecher  and  the  endow- 
ment, he  was  enthusiastic  for  both.  Dr.  Beecher  met  Mr.  Vail  approaching 
him  on  the  streets  of  Boston  and  knew  in  a  flash  what  was  wanted.  Dr.  Skin- 
ner wrote  to  Dr.  Beecher  at  this  crisis,  saying:  "You  will  act  against  the  con- 
viction of  all  the  friends  of  anti-sectarian  theology  and  religion  in  this  and  (as 
far  as  I  know)    every  other  part  of  the  land,   if  you  decline  this  call   to  the  west." 

DR.   WILSON   GOES  WITH   THE   OLD   SCHOOL 

Dr.  Beecher  wrote  to  the  Lane  Board  of  Trustees  in  March,  1832:  "If  I 
come,  I  cannot  come  to  change  or  to  conceal  my  theological  opinions,  or  to  teach 
and  preach  them  without  a  cordial  co-operation."  In  May.  1832,  we  read  in 
at  letter  of  Catherine  Beecher  to  her  sister  Harriet  from  Cincinnati:  "I  see  no 
difficulties  or  objections.  Everything  is  ready,  and  everybody  gives  a  welcome 
except  Dr.  Wilson's  folks,  and  they  are  finding  that  it  is  wisest  and  best  to  be 
still,  and  we  hope  that  before  a  great  while  they  will  be  friendly.  Father  is  de- 
termined to  get  acquainted  with  Dr.  Wilson,  and  to  be  friendly  with  him,  and 
I   think   he   will   succeed." 

Dr.  Bcccher  regarded  Dr.  Wilson  as  a  possible  New  School  man.  When  Mr. 
Vail  got  back  to  Cincinnati  with  the  news  of  Dr.  Beecher's  appointment.  Dr. 
Wilson  was  out  in  a  big  camp-meeting,  where  Mr.  Vail  found  him.  "Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,"  cried  Dr.  Wilson,  clapping  his  hands  at  the  word.  But 
Dr.  Wilson  had  regarded  the  Seminary  as  a  local  matter  until  he  was  made  aware 
that  the  Old  and  New  School  controversy  was  involved  in  it.  The  General 
Assembly  was  to  favor  a  location  at  Pittsburgh  or  Cincinnati,  and  they  voted 
for  Pittsburgh:  and  this  had  disheartened  the  friends  of  the  Lane  location  so 
that  they  looked  to  New  England  for  help  instead  of  to  Princeton  and  the  Middle 
States.  But  when  it  came  out  that  Dr.  Beecher  was  a  New  School  man.  over- 
tures were  made  to  Dr.  Wilson,  with  intimations  of  disaster  if  New  England 
theology  was  taught  and  preached  in  the  West.  Dr.  Wilson  was  naturally  partial 
and  sympathetic  to  the  Old  School  side,  and  had  changed  his  mind  as  to  Dr. 
Bcccher  before  the  latter  arrived  in  Cincinnati.  Dr.  Beecher  expected  a  call  from 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Cincinnati,  but  two  of  the  ciders  wrote  to 
him  that  they  were  disheartened  about  his  theology  and  had  determined,  in  all 
good  conscience  before  God.  to  "enter  our  deliberate  and  prayerful  dissent  to  vour 
ministry  among  us."  They  added  that  if  he  came,  there  would  be  a  considerable 
secession  from  the  church.  Dr.  Wilson  was  in  full  sympathy  with  this  letter 
and  had  thought  it  would  influence  Dr.  Beecher  to  withdraw  his  consent  to  come 
to  Lane.  Dr.  Beecher  sent  the  letter  to  the  full  session  of  the  Second  Church, 
and  they  replied  that  it  was  but  the  expression  of  a  minority  and  for  him  to 
come  ahead.  This  only  intensified  the  rising  opposition,  for  Dr.  Wilson  there- 
upon   published    articles    in    the    New    York    religious    press    warning    the    Church 


THE    OLD    SOUTH    IN    THE    NEW  231 

in  general  against  Dr.  Beecher  as  a  teacher  of  theology  to  the  young  men  of  the 
West.  Dr.  Beecher  replied,  publishing  the  facts  of  Dr.  Wilson's  original  friendly 
attitude  toward  him.  And  when  Dr.  Beecher  arrived  in  Cincinnati  and  pre- 
sented his  credentials  to  the  Presbytery,  Dr.  Wilson  arose  and  opposed  his  enroll- 
ment,   saying  he  had   no   confidence   in   Dr.    Beecher's   doctrines. 

THE    BATTLE    ROYAL    BEGINS 

Dr.  Beecher  arose  to  say  that  he  was  sure  Dr.  Wilson  was  laboring  under 
some  great  mistake:  that  he  had  not  changed  one  iota  in  his  theology  since  he 
talked  with  Dr.  Wilson  three  years  previous  and  they  seemed  to  be  in  one  spirit 
of  accord:  and  a  recess  was  asked  by  Dr.  Beecher  that  they  might  have  a  free 
conversation  together  in  the  vestry.  Presbytery  adjourned  and  Dr.  Beecher 
addressed  the  brethren  informally  in  the  vestry.  Dr.  Wilson  was  agitated  and 
nervous.  Someone  suggested  prayer.  Dr.  Wilson  waved  his  hand  at  Dr.  Beecher 
and  said,  "You  pray.''  Dr.  Beecher's  prayer  reassured  the  group,  when  some 
thoughtless  minister  exclaimed  that  there  had  never  come  to  Cincinnati  a  man  of 
big  religious  calibre  but  that  he  excited  Dr.  Wilson's  jealousy,  and  he  drove  him 
away.  Dr.  Beecher  and  the  rest  were  filled  with  utter  dismay.  Dr.  Beecher 
had  felt  certain  of  conciliating  and  winning  Dr.  Wilson  till  that  untoward  inci- 
dent. He  added  this  comment  years  afterward:  "Then  the  fat  was  in  the  fire. 
I  was  sure  I  should  win  him.  I  never  was  more  chagrined.  We  went  up,  and 
it    was   pitched   battle   after    that." 

JUDGE  WILSON'S  STRONG  DEFENSE 

Judge  Samuel  M.  Wilson  corrects  this  misconception  of  Dr.  Wilson's  motives 
in  a  most  convincing  and  forcible  statement  to  us:  "Whatever  else  may  be 
thought  or  said  of  Dr.  Wilson,  this  aspersion  is  wholly  unjust.  He  was  valiant 
for  the  truth,  as  he  understood  and  believed  it:  but  in  championing  his  faith 
he  was  one  of  the  most  selfless  and  disinterested  advocates  that  ever  lived.  Con- 
siderations of  a  personal  or  material  nature  weighed  not  one  iota  with  him.  Dr. 
Beecher  himself  somewhere  testifies  to  the  entire  good  nature,  courtesy  and  fair- 
ness   of    Dr.    Wilson's    indictment    of    him. 

"Of  course,  all  students  of  history  must  know  that  the  so-called  'heresy- 
hunter,'  or  champion  of  orthodoxy,  was  never  popular.  It  was  by  no  means  a 
pleasant  or  a  popular  thing  to  do.  Much  that  Dr.  Wilson  felt  compelled  by  his 
sense  of  duty  and  loyalty  to  the  faith  of  Presbyterians  to  do  was  distasteful  and 
unpopular,  and  it  required  more  than  ordinary  moral  courage  to  carry  him 
through    the    unpalatable    prosecution. 

"However,  he  was  neither  a  bigot  nor  a  fanatic  nor  a  fatalist  (unless  the 
doctrine  of  Predestination  must  be  identified  with  Fatalism)  :  any  more  than 
his  distinguished  adversary  was  a  shining  avatar  of  a  new  revelation.  In  intellec- 
tual power  and  forensic  skill,  no  less  than  in  mastery  of  the  essentials  of  the 
Christian  faith,  as  embodied  in  the  doctrinal  statements  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  it  must  be  admitted  that  Dr.  Wilson  was  not  one  whit  behind  his  cul- 
tured antagonist  fresh  from  the  high-toned  atmosphere  of  'progressive'  New  Eng- 
land." 


23  2  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

Judge  Wilson,  furthermore,  takes  very  decided  issue  with  the  theory  that  the 
Beecher- Wilson  Battle  was  over  the  question  of  Slavery.  He  states  his  objection 
to  this  theory  in  such  clear  and  forcible  language  that  we  most  gladly  quote  him 
in  full  and  let  the  reader  determine  for  himself,  from  the  facts  and  evidence,  how 
much  or  how  little  Slavery  had  to  do  at  bottom  with  the  sundering  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  a  century  ago  when  Lyman  Beecher  and  Albert  Barnes  were 
put  on   trial   before  the   General   Assembly. 

"As  well  as  I  can  make  out,"  says  Judge  Wilson,  "you  take  the  position 
that  it  was  all  a  reflection  of  the  nation-wide  controversy  over  Slavery.  This, 
I  think,  is  an  error.  The  question  of  Slavery  was  almost  inextricably  mixed 
and  mingled  with  virtually  every  other  political,  economic  and  religious  question 
of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century;  but  that,  in  my  opinion,  was  decidedly 
of  minor  importance  in  the  wide  divergence  of  doctrinal  teaching,  which  reached 
its   culmination    in    the   trials   of   Drs.    Barnes    and    Beecher. 

"Saying  it  with  all  possible  respect  both  to  yourself  and  to  others  whose 
pronouncements  you  seem  to  accept  on  this  subject,  it  appears  to  me  that  the 
Slavery — Anti-Slavery  explanation  of  the  radical  developments  in  theological 
dogma  and  doctrine  is  wholly  inadequate,  even  bordering  upon  the  superficial. 
Certainly  it  was  not  the  Slavery  question  that  actuated  Joshua  L.  Wilson  to 
pursue   the  course  he   did,    in    the   case   of   Dr.    Beecher. 

"My  grandfather  was  not  a  slave-holder;  neither  he  nor  my  father  ever 
owned  a  slave;  neither  ever  favored  disunion  on  this  or  any  other  ground.  To 
take  this  view  of  the  matter  is  to  'stick  in  the  bark,'  as  members  of  the  legal 
profession  sometimes  are  heard  to  say.  My  father  and  grandfather  both  being 
of  Southern  blood  were  not  unnaturally  sympathetic  with  the  South,  but  neither 
favored  Secession  and  Slavery.  Their  church  relations  were  not  a  little  compli- 
cated by  the  fact  that,  while  being  wholly  Southern  in  their  blood  and  antece- 
dents, they  lived  in  a  Border  State,  and  on  the  North  side  of  the  Ohio  River. 
The  problem  of  the  Border  States  has  never  yet,  in  my  opinion,  been  satisfact- 
orily expounded  by  any  historian,  either  secular  or  religious,  although  approaches 
have  been  made  to  it,  and  it  is  today  receiving  more  and  more  concentrated 
study." 

Judge  Wilson  quotes  from  a  book  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  "Men  of 
Our  Own  Times,"  in  which  she  says  of  her  father's  trial:  "Dr.  Beecher  was 
now  the  central  point  of  a  great  theological  battle.  It  was  a  sort  of  spiritual 
Armageddon,  being  the  confluence  of  the  forces  of  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian 
Calvinistic  fatalism,  meeting  in  battle  with  the  advancing  rationalism  of  New 
England  New  School  Theology.  On  the  one  side  was  hard  literal  interpretation 
of  Bible  declarations  and  the  Presbyterian  standards,  asserting  man's  utter  and 
absolute  natural  and  moral  inability  to  obey  God's  commands,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  doctrine  of  man's  free  agency,  and  bringing  to  the  rendering  of  the 
declarations  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the  Standards,  the  lights  of  modern  modes 
of   interpretation." 

This  is  the  strongest  possible  statement  of  the  divergent  views  of  theology 
involved  in  this  heated  and  historic  controversy;  yet  the  fact  is  made  very  dear 
by  Judge  Wilson  himself  that  the  views  and  defense  of  Mr.  Barnes  and  Dr. 
Beecher  were  identical;  and  the  Beecher  prosecution  "was  voluntarily  dropped  by 
Dr.    Wilson    at    the    urgent    solicitation    of    his    friends    and    co-religionists,    for    the 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE    NEW  233 

reason  and  upon  the  ground  that  the  identical  questions  he  had  litigated  in  the 
Beecher  trial  were  involved  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes."  He  quotes  a  letter  from 
his  grandfather  at  the  Pittsburgh  Assembly  of  1836:  "I  perceive  clearly  that  the 
systems  of  Mr.  Barnes  and  Dr.  Beecher  are  the  same — their  modes  of  defense 
the  same,  their  explanations,  proofs  and  illustrations  the  same;  and  I  am  per- 
fectly satisfied  that  there  is  no  essential  difference  between  them  and  Dr.  Taylor; 
and  if  they  were  as  honest  as  Finney  and  Levitt  they  would  leave  the  Presby- 
terian  Church." 

No  doubt  the  New  School  men  did  seem,  to  the  Old  School  men,  to  be 
pulling  down  the  temple  of  faith.  We  find  in  an  Old  School  book  on  the 
subject  in  our  father's  library  the  prediction  that  "the  generations  that  rise  and 
become  educated  in  the  opinions  of  Duffield,  Beman,  Barnes  and  Finney  .... 
will  find  their  way  to  a  distance  from  the  gospel  far  more  dreary  and  hopeless 
than  they."  And  again,  "Drs.  Cox,  Beman.  Beecher,  Duffield,  and  Mr.  Barnes, 
have  denied  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel  as  understood  and  explained  by 
Presbyterians." 

Yet  when  we  saw  upon  our  father's  library  shelves  the  very  "Barnes'  Notes" 
that  had  caused  all  this  controversy,  accepted  for  two  generations  as  sound  Pres- 
byterian interpretation,  we  felt  certain  that  underneath  this  great  religious  dis- 
cussion and  upheaval  that  divided  our  beloved  Church  one  hundred  years  ago 
there  must  be  some  social,  human  issue  at  stake:  and  it  seemed  to  us  none  other 
than  the  issue  of  Slavery,  because  no  sooner  had  that  issue  been  settled  forever 
by  the  shedding  of  blood  in  the  Civil  War  than  overtures  for  reunion  were  made 
and  the  mutual  accommodation  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Assemblies  was 
happily   brought   about   upon   the   very   scenes   of   the   lamented   division. 


CHAPTER   XLIV 


%%mibt  &l®tn  ®(  ikt  (§lh  anb  J^itm  §§t%w\ 


g\  T  IS  imperative  that  we  restore  to  our  own  generation  a  full-length 
fm  VJ  spiritual  portrait  of  this  Rev.  Joshua  Lacy  Wilson,  who  rose  up  in 
X^  J  such  persistent  and  powerful  opposition  to  so  famous  and  mighty 
a  man  of  God  as  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher.  Dr.  Beecher  had  the  advant- 
age in  early  education,  but  this  man  Wilson's  efforts  to  repair  the  handicap  of 
his  own  youthful  lack  of  classical  schooling  evince  the  Wilson  intelligence  and 
determination.  He  had  but  one  year  at  Pisgah  Academy.  Then  he  attended 
school  under  a  Rev.  William  Mahon,  pastor  of  the  New  Providence  Church, 
organized  by  Father  David  Rice,  the  great  Emancipation  preacher.  A  year  and 
a  half  here  terminated  his  opportunity  for  the  time,  and  he  then  taught  school 
himself  at  the  little  town  of  Frankfort.  He  heard  of  a  classical  academy  near 
Louisville,  taught  by  Rev.  James  Vance.  This  was  at  Middletown.  and  here  he 
was  engaged  as  a  tutor  and  pursued  his  theological  studies  under  Rev.  Mr.  Vance. 
He  went  to  Tennessee  for  a  season,  where  he  was  licensed  in  1802;  and  was 
afterward  ordained  at  the  Union  Meeting  House,  Mercer  County,  Kentucky,  with 
his  old  schoolmate,  Thomas  Cleland.  Like  young  Cleland,  he  met  the  girl  of 
his  heart  during  his  school  year  at  Pisgah  Academy,  in  Woodford  County;  and 
after  accepting  a  call  to  preach  at  Bardstown  and  Big  Spring  churches,  his  young 
wife  was  baptized  at  a  sacramental  meeting  conducted  in  the  woods  by  the  old 
pioneer  preacher.  Archibald  Cameron,  of  Shelbyvillc.  The  young  preachers. 
Wilson  and  Cleland,  were  near  each  other  from  1804  to  1808.  when  the  call 
came    from    the   First    Church    in    Cincinnati    to    young    Wilson. 

DR.   WILSON  CALLED  TO  CINCINNATI 

The  Cincinnati  congregation  to  which  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  went  in  1808  is  said 
to  have  been  the  first  Protestant  Church  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  It  was  organ- 
ized by  Rev.  David  Rice,  October  16.  1790,  under  a  commission  from  the  Tran- 
sylvania Presbytery — which  embraced  the  entire  Western  country  at  that  day. 
Father  Rice  had  a  young  theological  student,  James  Kemper,  in  reserve  for  this 
little  flock  in  the  wilderness.  He  spent  six  weeks  with  them  and  then  went 
home  to  complete  his  studies.  Returning  in  the  spring,  he  began  his  work. 
A  small,  rough  slab  building  was  erected,  resting  on  blocks  of  wood  for  a  foun- 
dation; and  every  man  who  came  to  service  brought  his  rifle  to  fight  Indians. 
This  young  pastor  Kemper  rode  through  the  forest  fearlessly,  and  his  trial  sermon 
was  from  the  text.  '"Endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.''  It  is 
an  interesting  fact  that  when  the  appeal  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  which 
had    licensed    emergency    men    to    preach    the    gospel    in    the    Kentucky    wilderness 


THE    OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW 


235 


after  the  great  revival  of  1 800  and  had  received  the  censure  of  the  Synod,  came 
before  the  General  Assembly  in  May,  1807,  this  man  Kemper,  a  delegate  with 
Dr.  Cameron  from  Kentucky,  took  the  part  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery. 
Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  and  Rev.  Mr.  Cleland  had  sat  on  the  Committee  of  Synod 
that  censured  the  Cumberland  Presbytery.  This  was  Dr.  Wilson's  first  case  of 
prosecution.  It  was  a  sensational  experience  out  in  a  community  of  Cumberland 
people  whose  partisans  were  so  inflamed  with  excitement  that  personal  violence 
to  the  committee  was  possible.  But  it  was  a  tremendous  demonstration  of 
spiritual  and  moral  control  that  these  men  of  the  wilderness  submitted  in  an 
orderly  manner  to  every  ecclesiastical  rule  and  requirement;  and  the  General 
Assembly  gave  them  a  just  and  impartial  hearing.  It  is  interesting,  too,  when 
we  reflect  that  the  purpose  of  the  committee  of  Synod  was  "to  protect  the  min- 
istry from  unlearned  and  ignorant  men."  That  was  a  severe  but  courageous 
exaction.  And  it  was  from  such  stirring  scenes  and  experiences  that  Joshua  L. 
Wilson  came  to  his  new   field  of  labor  in    1808. 


FIRST     PRESBYTERIAN     CHURCH, 
Cincinnati,    Ohio,    first    House    of    Worship,    erected    1792 


THE  OLD  FIRST  CHURCH 

The  Cincinnati  church  wanted  a  man  of  God  to  abide  with  them,  and  they 
found  such  a  man  in  Dr.  Wilson.  A  new  house  of  worship  was  erected  under 
his  ministry,  known  as  "The  Two-Horned  Church"  because  of  two  big  towers. 
In  one  was  the  bell,  to  which  the  boys  climbed  by  a  winding  stair.  The  five 
aisles  were  covered  with  red  carpet.  A  great  gallery  ran  around  three  sides  of 
the  house.  Here  the  Sunday  School  met  at  9  o'clock  each  Sabbath.  Four  giant 
wood  stoves  heated  the  building  on  the  main  floor,  but  the  church  was  still 
so  cold  that  the  pastor  would  wear  his  great  cloak  in  the  tower-like  pulpit  when 
he  preached.  This  pulpit  was  as  lofty  as  the  gallery  and  was  reached  by  two 
pairs  of  winding  stairway.  The  session  room  was  underneath,  where  on  Satur- 
days Dr.  Wilson  met  the  children  to  catechize  them.  He  had  been  hurt  by  the 
overturning  of  a  stagecoach  attending  Synod  at  Chillicothe,  and  ever  afterward 
held    his    head    a    little    to    one    side.       He    was    said    to    resemble    General    Andrew 


236 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF   LINCOLN 


Jackson  in  personal  appearance  and  grave  dignity.  His  voice  is  described  as 
musical,  not  very  loud,  but  well  modulated.  He  used  short  notes  in  preaching. 
He  believed  with  all  his  soul  in  the  terrors  of  the  law  and  could  make  unrepent- 
ant sinners  tremble  with  the  thunders  of  Sinai.  But  his  deeper  appeals  were  of 
saving  grace,  and  his  voice  trembled  with  emotion,  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears; 
yet  he  was  always  master  of  himself.  At  his  Saturday  meetings  with  the  chil- 
dren he  opened  with  a  hymn,  leading  it  himself,  then  offered  a  brief  prayer, 
and  was  a  very  kindly  and  patient  instructor  of  the  young.  He  had  them  read 
scripture  in  rotation,  and  his  lessons  in  religious  truth  made  a  lasting  impression. 
There  was  no  organ  in  those  days,  and  the  choir  sat  in  the  gallery  opposite  the 
pulpit.  During  revival  meetings  the  preacher  exhorted  from  the  floor  in  front 
of  the  pulpit,  or  mounted  a  pew  near  the  middle  of  the  house.  Dr.  Wilson  at 
first  opposed  the  "anxious  seat"  and  the  "mourner's  bench,"  but  later  adopted 
them,  greatly  to  the  success  of  his  meetings.  But  undue  excitement  was  never 
encouraged.  Dr.  Wilson  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  people.  A  brother  minister 
who  visited  him  in  the  later  years  of  his  pastorate  said:  "He  was  very  feeble, 
and  very  tender  and  spiritual.  He  seemed  to  have  the  humility  and  simplicity 
of  a   child." 


REV.     JAMES     KEMPER 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Cincinnati.  Ohio.  179it- 
1796;  pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Pleasant  Ridge.  Ohio. 
1796-1807. 


MUTTERINGS   OF  THE   COMING   STORM 

There  was  a  great  revival  in  Cincinnati  in  the  year  1828.  when  large  numbers 
were  added  to  Dr.  Wilson's  church.  This  spiritual  atmosphere  continued  for  the 
space  of  two  years.  It  was  characterized  as  a  glorious  work:  and.  beyond  all 
doubt,  Dr.  Wilson  earnestly  desired  to  keep  out  of  his  congregation  the  disturb- 
ances in  the  political  movements  of  the  time;  and  it  was  with  evident  pain  that 
the    church    historian    confessed:       "This    revival    was    soon    followed    bv    ten    and 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  237 

more  years  of  alienation  and  strife,  without  revivals  and  without  other  evidences 
of  spiritual  growth.  The  Old  and  New  School  controversy  began  in  1829,  and 
lasted  even  beyond  the  disruption  of  183  8.  It  came  from  the  East,  and  was 
as  violent  here  as  there.  The  first  bone  of  contention  was  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  in  New  York,  which  bid  fair  to  supplant  the  Assembly's 
Board  in  Philadelphia.  Other  roots  of  bitterness  soon  sprang  up,  chiefly  Aboli- 
tionism and  New  England  theology,  with  charges  and  counter-charges  abounding 
in  evil  surmises  and  exaggerations,  until  Ephriam  and  Judah  both  seemed  to 
become   Ishmaelities." 

DR.  WILSON'S  SON  HIS  ARMOR-BEARER 
It  was  in  the  year  1840  that  Dr.  Wilson  desired  the  presence  of  his  son, 
Rev.  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  as  co-pastor.  The  church  chronicle  describes  him  as 
"twenty-two  years  old,  'a  youth  and  ruddy.'  Indeed,  some  objected  to  his  be- 
coming co-pastor  on  account  of  his  youth,  but  it  was  suggested  to  them  that 
he  would  improve  in  that  respect  every  day.  There  is  something  of  tender 
interest  in  the  fact  that  he  entered  the  ministry  so  young.  *  *  *  He  pos- 
sessed many  advantages  of  person.  His  mind  was  bright  and  active,  and  he  had 
been  well  trained  in  Hanover  College  and  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  His 
affections  were  strong.  His  conscience  was  inflexible.  His  judgment  was  un- 
usually sound,  and  his  will  was  determined.  He  was  good  as  a  preacher,  and 
became  unexcelled  as  an   ecclesiastic  and   as  a   debater. 

"His  voice  was  flexible  and  musical.  He  early  became  an  attractive  preacher 
to  those  who  loved  gospel  truth.  Young  people  were  naturally  drawn  to  hear 
him.  In  his  younger  ministry  his  style  was  rather  flowery  and  poetical.  His 
sermons  were  well  prepared  and  delivered.  His  delight  was  always  to  preach  the 
gospel,  and  his  appeals  to  the  impentient  were  often  very  powerful.  His  face 
would  kindle,  his  eyes  would  be  filled  with  tears,  his  voice  would  tremble,  when 
he  would  depict  the  sorrows  of  Christ  in  Gethsemane  and  on  the  cross,  and  he 
would  invite  sinners  to  come  to  him.  He  was  perhaps  somewhat  cold  in  manner 
in  personal  intercourse,  but  his  reserve  would  yield  to  the  genial  influence  of 
more   intimate  acquaintance." 

THE  OLD  SCHOOL  ADDS  A  CHAMPION 
The  Old  School  Assembly  met  in  Dr.  Wilson's  church  in  1845  when  Dr. 
N.  L.  Rice  secured  his  famous  deliverance  on  Slavery,  shutting  out  all  petitions 
and  discussions  of  the  subject  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace  of  that  body  for 
time  to  come.  Yet  the  founder  of  the  old  First  Church  was  Father  Rice,  the 
Kentucky  Emancipator,  and  on  April  5,  1831,  a  group  of  twenty  strong-minded 
members  of  Dr.  Wilson's  church  petitioned  Cincinnati  Presbytery  to  organize 
them  into  the  Sixth  Presbyterian  Church.  "The  cause  which  originated  this 
church  movement,"  says  the  church  chronicle,  "was  pulpit  defense  of  'American 
Slavery,'  drawn  from  the  Bible,  and  denunciation  of  those  who  agitated  the  sub- 
ject of  Emancipation."  This  group  later  became  the  famous  "Vine  Street  Con- 
gregational Church."  Dr.  Wilson's  church  was  also  the  mother  of  the  "Central 
Church,"  organized  in  April,  1844,  primarily  to  bring  Dr.  N.  L.  Rice  to  Cin- 
cinnati as  pastor  and  strengthen  the  Old  School  side.  He  was  a  phenomenal  suc- 
cess.     Nor   did   he   keep   quiet    in    defense   of    Slavery. 


238  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

THE  WILSON-BEECHER  BATTLE  RENEWED 

He  is  indeed  a  superficial  reader  of  church  history  who  cannot  discern  under- 
neath this  grapple  of  religious  giants  in  the  Old  and  New  School  struggle  "a 
house  divided"  and  "the  irrepressible  conflict"  of  which  Lincoln  so  often  spoke 
in  the  Douglas  debates.      The  clash   was   unavoidable   and   inevitable. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  during  the  winter  of  1832-33 
Dr.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  the  Moderator,  had  a  resolution  introduced  authorizing 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  investigate  the  rumors  of  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher's  unsoundness  in  the  faith.  This  was  on  a  Friday  evening  when  Dr. 
Wilson  had  a  prayer-meeting  service  to  conduct.  Dr.  Beecher's  friends  rose  to 
the  occasion,  and  when  he  appeared  in  his  own  defense  and  made  a  talk  of  one 
hour,   he  could  sincerely  say: 

"I  was  able  to  keep  down  all  improper  feeling;  treated  him  politely  and 
kindly;  gave  him  credit  for  honesty;  but  every  concession  contrasted  with  his 
treatment  of  me  like  coals  of  juniper.  In  closing,  I  expostulated  with  Dr.  Wilson 
affectionately;  stated  the  rising  prospects  of  a  revival  in  the  churches,  and  con- 
jured him  to  desist  till  I  had  furnished  some  better  evidence  of  heresy  than  rumor, 
or  afforded  him  conclusive  evidence  of  my  orthodoxy,  which  I  had  not  a  single 
doubt   I    should   ere   long   be   able   to   do." 

The  sentiment  of  the  Presbytery  was  so  strongly  in  Dr.  Beecher's  favor  that 
Dr.  Wilson  appealed  to  Synod.  This  body  convened  in  Cincinnati  and  was 
hearing  the  appeal  against  Dr.  Beecher  while  his  congregation  was  welcoming  him 
to  the  Second  Church.  A  messenger  came  post  haste  for  Dr.  Beecher.  He  arrived 
at  Synod  while  Dr.  Wilson  was  speaking.  Dr.  Beecher  replied  in  a  frank,  off- 
hand manner  and  so  impressed  Synod  that  the  decision  in  his  favor  was  very 
decisive.      Dr.    Wilson    then    appealed    to    the    General    Assembly. 

The  next  clash  came  before  Cincinnati  Presbytery  where  one  of  Dr.  Beecher's 
sons  was  to  be  examined.  Dr.  Wilson  headed  the  Old  School  opposition  to  sus- 
taining the  young  man's  examination.  Dr.  Beecher's  daughter  Harriet  thus  de- 
scribes Dr.  Wilson:  "Do  you  see  in  the  front  pew  a  tall,  grave-looking  man, 
of  strong  and  rather  harsh  features,  very  pale,  with  a  severe  seriousness  of  face, 
and  with  great  formality  and  precision  in  every  turn  and  motion?  Well,  if  you 
see  him,  that  man  is  Dr.  Wilson.  His  great  ivory-headed  cane  leans  on  the  side 
of  the  pew  beside  him,  and  in  his  hand  he  holds  the  Confession  of  Faith.  The 
candidate  sits  on  the  pulpit  stairs,  so  that  he  may  face  the  Presbytery,  and  the 
examination  committee  are  called  on:    'Dr.   Wilson  in  Philosophy.' 

GEORGE  BEECHER  ENCOUNTERS  TROUBLE 

No  snags  were  encountered  in  this  subject;  but  in  Theology  a  friendly  soul, 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Gallagher,  a  "tall  son  of  Anak,  the  great  Goliath,  whose  awful 
brows  and  camp-meeting  hymns"  were  so  over-awing,  examines  George  Beecher 
"in  the  broad  and  obvious  truths  of  Christianity"  and  then  sits  down.  The 
Moderator  then  gives  the  members  of  Presbytery  liberty  to  question  the  candidate. 
They  did  so  from  all  quarters,  in  quick  succession,  with  every  imaginable  shade  of 
doctrine.  No  witness  on  the  stand  ever  underwent  a  more  continuous  cross- 
examination.  It  lasted  for  two  hours  and  a  half  and  was  then  temporarily  sus- 
pended   to   try    him    out    on    other   subjects.       George    gave    answer   judiciously    and 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW 


239 


JOHN    FINLEY    CROWE 
In,    response    to    careful    inquiry    as    to    whether    Dr.    Crowe    became    more 
conservative    in    his    Abolition    views    and    activities;    and    also    as    to    the    for- 
bidding- of  free   discussion   and   organization   among  the   student:  body   on,  these 
volcanic    social    issues,    President    Millis    replied: 


Rev.    L.    V.   Rule,    Goshen,    Kentucky 
Dear  Mr.  Rule: 


May    11,    1927 


I  don't  think  that  Dr.  Crowe  ever  ceased  his  abolitionist  and,  prohibition- 
ist preaching  and  teaching.  It  is  entirely  unlike  him  to  do  so.  It  was  the 
prevailing  opinion  one  hundred  years;  ago  that  controversial  questions  of  all 
kinds  should  be  excluded  from  college  campuses.  We  have  entirely  reversed 
that  opinion  in  recent  years.  The  open  forums  are  found  everywhere  today. 
My  understanding  is  that  the  reason  which  actuated  the  old-time  faculty  was 
the  feeling  that  education  was  a  matter  of  book  learning,  which  in  the  nature 
of  things  should  be  directed  very  definitely  toward  the  past,  and  not  a  matter 
of  research  or  consideration  of  current  issues.  The  Pageant  wilj  show  what 
Mrs.  Millis  and  I  think  is  an  interesting  evolution  in  educfational  philosophy. 
Hanover  begani  with  a  strictly  classical  education,  which  after  the  Civil  War 
was  modified  (enough  to  admit  the  natural  sciences  and  then  again  some 
twenty  years  agio  modified  to  make  place  for  the  social  sciences  and  the 
consideration    of    current    problems. 

Dr.  Crowe  never  compromised  with  his  opinions  nor  was  he  influenced 
in  the  least  so  far  as  I  can  see  by  opposition  from  other  sources.  He  does 
say  in  one  of  his  speeches  in  Presbytery  that  his  consent  to  open  the  school 
at  Hanover  must  be  on  the  expressed  condition  that  he  be  free  to  teach  and 
preach   against    slavery    and    intemperance.  Very    truly    yours, 

W.   A.    MILLIS. 

Our  church  history  shows  that  the,  hostility  to  Dr.  Beecher  was  in  part 
prejudice    against   New    England. 

When  Dr.  Crowe,  on  his  Eastern  tour  for  funds  for  Hanover  College, 
appealed  to  the  Missionary  Society  in  Boston,  he  was  closely  questioned  about 
the  Beecher-Wilflon  controversy,  and  asked  how  he  stood  in  the  matter.  He 
answered  tactfully  but  honestly  that  he  preferred  Princeton  to  Lane;  and 
the    society    declined    to    give    him    funds. 

There  was,  therefore,  a  peculiar  and  fine  conservatism  about  Dr.  Crowe. 
He  remained  with  the  Old  School  side  when  John  M.  Dickey  and  other 
Abolition  intimates  went  with  the  New  School  side.  But  so  did  Rev.  James 
Blythe  and  Rev.  Wm.  W.  Martin,  who,  like  Dr.  Crowe,  were  Abolitionists,  but 
conservative  in  theology  as  well  as  temperament.  They  were  Southern  and 
Kentuokian  in  that  respect.  Dr.  Blythe,  while)  President  of  Hanover  College 
(1832-1S36)    was    a   powerful    Old    School    leader. 


240 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


sincerely;  and  next  day  the  Presbytery  was  open  for  an  expression  of  opinion 
upon  the  examination  that  far.  This  matter  consumed  the  entire  day,  and  at  the 
evening  session  the  discussion  was  resumed.  Dr.  Beecher  and  Dr.  Wilson  were 
left  to  the  last,  being  the  oldest  members  of  Presbytery.  Dr.  Beecher's  remarks 
were,  of  course,  in  favor  of  his  son  with  some  comment  about  being  fair  and 
giving  freedom  to  the  soul  of  a  young  man  to  exercise  his  faith  without  fear,  "to 
stand  on  God's  earth,  and  breathe  his  air,  and  preach  his  Gospel  as  we  believe  it." 
Dr.  Beecher  sat  down,  and  Dr.  Wilson  arose  and  in  a  speech  of  half  an  hour 
said  he  did  not  believe  the  candidate  was  a  Christian.  He  said  that  the  candidate 
gave  no  evidence  of  experimental  Christianity,  and  that  both  the  young  man 
and  all  those  who  held  similar  sentiment  "would  never  see  the  gates  of  eternal 
bliss."  It  was  midnight  before  the  final  vote  had  been  taken,  but  George 
Beecher  was  sustained  in  his  examination   by   a   majority   of   23. 


REV.   SAMUEL   R.    WILSON,    D.    D. 

Son  of  Rev.  Joshua  L.  Wilson.  D.  D.,  and  even  more 
famous  than  his  father  in  the  controversies  of  Civil  War 
times   in    the    Presbyterian   Church. 


ALBERT  BARNES  WRITES  TO  LYMAN  BEECHER 
A  letter  from  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  of  Philadelphia,  to  Dr.  Beecher  dated 
March  20,  1835,  indicated  that  the  Old  School  men  were  determined  to  depose 
him  from  the  ministry  on  the  ground  that  his  Commentary  on  Romans  was 
at  variance  with  Presbyterian  Standards.  Mr.  Barnes  had  been  a  convert  from 
skepticism  to  a  very  beautiful  and  satisfying  faith.  He  was  a  younger  man  than 
Charles  G.  Finney,  and  like  Finney,  gave  up  the  prospect  of  law  to  become  a 
minister  of  the  gospel.  He  was  educated  at  Princeton  Seminary  and  accepted  a 
pastorate  at  Morristown,  N.  J.  He  began  writing  his  famous  "Commentaries" 
or  "Notes"  during  this  pastoral  charge.  He  then  accepted  a  call  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia.  His  ministry  was  abundantly  blessed  of 
God.  He  was  a  wise,  far-seeing  soul,  and  when  under  fire  from  the  Old  School 
side  deported  himself  with  the  same  forbearance  and  patience  that  characterized 
Dr.   Lyman   Beecher.      Our  church   historian   observes  concerning   him: 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  241 

"The  years  of  controversy  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  culminated  in 
its  division  in  1837,  and  in  which  some  of  Mr.  Barnes'  doctrinal  views  were 
assailed,  were  painful  years  to  him.  But  through  them  all  he  bore  himself  with 
a  firmness  that  never  passed  by  its  excess  into  obstinacy,  with  a  gentleness  that 
never  degenerated  into  weakness,  and  with  a  patience  that  was  never  ruffled.  He 
remained  conspicuously  connected  with  what  was  known  as  the  New  School 
branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  through  press  and  pulpit  contributed 
largely  to  that  state  of  things  which  made  the  reunion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
possible,   and   which   so   happily   characterizes   the   union    as   actually   accomplished." 

BEECHER    AND    BARNES    COUNSEL    MODERATION 

Albert  Barnes  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  great  figures  of  his  time  in  the 
Anti-Slavery  Movement.  He  was  offered  a  professorship  in  Lane  Seminary  in 
1849,  but  declined  it.  He  was  elected  New  School  Moderator  in  1851.  In  the 
correspondence  with  Dr.  Lyman  Bcecher  regarding  the  wisest  procedure  in  the 
pending  trials  before  the  division  of  the  Old  and  New  School  sides  in  the  General 
Assembly,  Mr.  Barnes  and  Dr.  Beecher  were  of  one  mind.  This  moderation  was 
strikingly  exemplified  about  this  time  in  Dr.  Beecher's  advice  to  his  son  William 
regarding  a   radical  stand  on  Abolition: 

"As  to  Abolition,  I  am  still  of  opinion  that  you  ought  not,  and  need  not, 
and  will  not  commit  yourself  as  a  partisan  on  either  side.  The  cause  is  moving 
on  in  Providence,  and  by  the  American  Union,  and  by  colonization  *  *  * 
will  succeed,  as  I  believe.  And  I  hope  and  believe  that  the  Abolitionists  as  a 
body  will  become  more  calm  and  less  denunciatory,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
he-goat  men,  who  think  they  do  God  service  by  butting  everything  in  the  line 
of  their  march  which  does  not  fall  in  or  get  out  of  the  way.  They  are  the  off- 
spring of  the  Oneida  denunciatory  revivals,  and  are  made  up  of  vinegar,  aqua 
fortis,  and  oil  of  vitriol,  with  brimstone,  saltpeter,  and  charcoal,  to  explode  and 
scatter  the  corrosive  matter." 

The  comment  of  Dr.  Beecher's  biographer,  Charles  Beecher,  on  the  gathering 
storm  of  Abolition,  coincident  with  the  climax  of  the  Old  and  New  School 
struggle,  is  no  less  illuminating:  "There  was  another  cause  of  the  great  catas- 
trophe— we  refer  to  the  slavery  question,  which  yet  is  not  another.  The  first 
number  of  the  Liberator  was  issued  January,  1831,  a  few  months  after  Dr. 
Beecher  received  his  call  to  Lane  Seminary.  Confessing  himself  to  have  been 
till  September,  1829,  the  advocate  of  gradual  emancipation,  the  editor  defines 
his  present  and  future  position  by  the  emphatic  menace,  'Let  Southern  oppressors 
tremble!  Let  their  secret  abettors  tremble!  Let  all  the  enemies  of  the  perse- 
cuted  blacks   tremble!' 

"The  interval  between  this  challenge  and  1837,  while  gradually  destroying 
Mr.  Garrison's  original  sympathy  with  the  theology  of  revivals  and  its  kindred 
developments,  added  constantly  to  the  intensity  and  power  of  his  appeals.  Yet 
the  fact  of  this  divergence  of  the  Liberator  from  the  theology  of  the  Puritans 
does  not  nullify  the  fact  that  it  was  itself  the  child  of  that  theology,  albeit  a 
wayward  child.  Its  first  numbers  speak  the  dialect  of  Canaan — the  dialect  of 
faith,    and    prayer,    and    evangelical    sympathy." 


242  THE  FORERUNNERS   OF  LINCOLN 

DR.    BEECHER   ACQUITTED;    THE    STORM   BREAKS 

Dr.  Beecher  was  acquitted  of  the  charges  preferred  against  him  by  Dr.  Wilson 
in  the  Assembly  of  183  6.  But  this  Assembly  was  characterized  by  the  heated 
and  violent  discussion  of  the  subject  of  slavery.  Dr.  Witherspoon  of  South 
Carolina  afterward  said  to  Dr.  Beecher  in  a  personal  letter:  "Division  I  do  most 
sincerely  and  deeply  deplore.  *  *  *  Yet  so  it  will  be  if  the  Abolitionists 
rule.  Our  land  must  be  deluged  in  blood  by  a  contest  fiercer  and  more  bloody 
and  unrelenting  than  even  Tory  warfare  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle. 
When  men  contend  for  liberty — an  opinion — they  will  fight  like  men.  But 
when    they   contend    for   property,    they    will    fight    like    devils." 

These  were  the  solemn  and  momentous  words  of  Rev.  Thomas  Witherspoon. 
a  South  Carolina  Emancipationist,  a  man  of  profound  social  insight  and  spiritual 
perception.  He  was  a  new  and  tremendously  significant  figure  in  those  perilous 
times.  He  was  a  man  who  weighed  his  words  and  who  knew  to  the  very  last 
letter  what  he  was  saying.  He  was  no  fire-eater  nor  fanatic.  He  saw,  as  clearly 
as  if  revealed  by  the  Word  of  God,  just  what  the  outcome  of  this  terrible  busi- 
ness would  be.  It  is  an  awfully  convincing  fact — this  frank,  fearless,  and  full 
statement  to  Dr.  Beecher  as  to  the  impending  peril  of  violent  and  uncompromis- 
ing Abolition  agitation.  Astonishing  as  it  seems,  there  came  a  man  of  God 
from  South  Carolina,  the  home  of  Nullification  and  Secession,  to  give  due  warn- 
ing to  the  nation,  North  and  South,  as  far  back  as  the  crisis  of  Old  and  New 
School  in  1836.  These  are  his  deliberate  and  measured  sentences,  uttered  from 
a  soul  as  sincere,  enlightened,  liberty-loving  and  compassionate  as  ever  preached 
the   Gospel   of   the   Son   of  God: 

"Division  I  do  most  sincerely  and  deeply  deplore;  and  if  it  must,  as  a 
dernier  resort,  come  to  this,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line  must  be  the  ridge.  It  needs  but  the  lifting  of  a  finger  to  bring 
this  to>  pass;  and  if  it  will  promote  the  peace  of  the  Church,  it  shall  be  done 
as  speedily  as  the  most  violent  Abolitionist   could  desire. 

"And  what  will  be  the  effect  of  this?  Southern  ministers  will  be  utterly 
excluded  from  Northern  pulpits  and  churches — Northern  ministers  driven  from 
the  South,  or  conducted  to  'the  lamp-post  a'la  mode  de  Paris' — a  pretty  state 
of  things  in  Christian  America,  the  nest  of  the  eagle,  home  of  the  stranger, 
asylum    of   the   oppressed.       *       *       * 

"This  cause  will  arm  son  against  father,  daughter  against  mother,  and  pros- 
trate the  strongest  and  most  tender  ties  of  life.  I  have  been  a  slave-holder  from 
my  youth,  and  yet  I  detest  it  as  the  political  and  domestic  curse  of  our  Southern 
country.  And  yet  I  would  contend  to  the  death  against  Northern  interference 
with  Southern  rights,  and  would  follow  Dr.  Beman  to  the  scaffold  on  Charleston 
Neck  if  he  continued  to  hold  the  sentiments  he  expressed  at  Pittsburgh  in  183  5. 
I  give  you,  Brother  Beecher,  my  honest,  undisguised  sentiments.  They  may  be 
wrong,   but   I   think   them   right. 

"Abolitionism  leads  to  murder,  rapine,  and  every  vile  crime  that  an  enthusi- 
astic, ignorant  slave  could  commit;  and  therefore  I  abhor  Abolitionism  and  detest 
the  Abolitionist.  It  was  well  that  I  was  not  on  the  floor  of  the  last  Assembly; 
but,  if  God  spare  me,  I  shall  be  on  the  floor  of  the  next:  and  let  Lovejoy.  or 
Patterson,  or  Dickey,  or  any  like  them,  dare  to  advance  the  opinions  I  have 
heard   expressed,    and — the   consequences   be   theirs." 


CHAPTER   XLV 


<l>kt  %hm\\\mn  (jSpAmim  1&&mt>& 


/^  T  WOULD  be  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  mind,  heart,  and  soul 
fm  VJ  of  the  Old  South  on  the  perilous  social  problem  of  African  Slavery 
^^  J  and  its  ultimate  abolition  did  we  not  glimpse  briefly  one  or  more 
great  religious  leaders,  who  longed  and  labored  as  earnestly  as  any 
Northern  Abolitionists  for  the  final  extinction  of  the  hated  institution  of  human 
bondage.  Such  a  leader  was  the  Rev.  Thomas  Sydenham  Witherspoon,  a  South 
Carolinian,  born  January  2,  1805,  and  deceased  October  20,  1845,  on  his  pas- 
toral field  in  the  State  of  Alabama.  His  loss  to  his  church  and  country  was 
tragic.  He  was  a  blood  relative  of  President  Witherspoon  of  Princeton  College. 
He  came  of  the  finest  Scotch  Presbyterian  parentage.  He  was  educated  in  the 
State  of  New  York  and  was  a  young  man  of  broad  mind  and  generous  spirit. 
He  was  a  most  genial  and  humorous  character,  nothwithstanding  the  shadow  of 
illness  and  early  death  that  followed  his  family  with  fatal  consequences.  He  had 
only  one  brother  living  when  he  passed  away.  His  beloved  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren were  deceased  before  him;  and  his  own  health  was  frail.  Yet  he  was  tire- 
less in  his  ministerial  duties  and  was  a  power  in  the  camp-meetings  and  sacra- 
mental services  held  all  over  that  part  of  the  country.  He  was  very  averse  to 
using  the  written  sermon  or  notes  in  preaching.  He  was  a  natural  orator  and 
with  inimitable  mimicry  discountenanced  the  scholastic  method  of  sermonizing. 
He  was  a  man  of  medium  height,  a  slender  and  graceful  figure,  thin  countenance, 
dark  complexion,  keen  and  discerning  eyes,  and  with  a  fascinating  cordiality  and 
ease  of  manner  typically  Southern.  It  is  only  necessary  now  to  add  what  his 
biographer  records  regarding  his  attitude  toward  Slavery  and  Emancipation  to 
conceive  clearly  his  hope  for  the  South  in  this  crucial  hour  of  change  and  revo- 
lution: 

"I  should  do  injustice  to  the  character  of  this  excellent  brother,  if  I  did 
not  say  a  word  in  reference  to  his  connection  with  the  subject  of  Slavery.  He 
was  the  possessor  of  a  considerable  number  of  slaves — perhaps  thirty — whom  he 
had  received  by  inheritance.  But  he  treated  them  almost  with  the  affection  of  a 
father.  Instead  of  constantly  employing  an  overseer,  he,  for  the  most  part, 
employed  one  of  their  own  number,  a  venerable  old  pious  Negro,  by  the  name 
of  Paul,  who  was  greatly  respected  by  the  whole  community,  and  withal  was  in 
some  sense  a  preacher — to  take  the  general  direction  of  affairs  on  the  plantation; 
and,  under  his  superintendence,  everything  moved  on  in  the  most  quiet  and  har- 
monious   way. 

"Many  years  before  his  death,  he  offered  to  set  them  free,  and  to  pay  the 
expense  of  their  passage  to  Liberia — and  this  was  a  standing  offer  as  long  as  he 
lived;  but  they  unfortunately  declined  it.  By  his  will,  he  presented  them  to 
Henry  Clay,  as  President  of  the  Colonization  Society,  to  be  sent  to  Liberia,  and 
his  will  has  accordingly  taken  effect,    (May  30,    1857)." 


244  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


THE  PASSING  OF  COLONIZATION 

The  American  Colonization  Society,  at  first  so  widely  and  persistently  pop- 
ular at  the  South,  (though  honestly  regarded  by  many  national  public  men  in 
Washington  City  at  its  very  inception  as  Utopian)  had  become  a  menace  to  real 
Emancipation.  Its  chief  officers  were  slave-holders  who  soothed  their  conscience 
by  subscribing  to  its  high-sounding  sentiments.  It  is  said  that  more  slaves  were 
smuggled  into  the  South  in  one  year  by  seven  times  than  were  transported  to 
Liberia  in  fifteen.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  struck  the  Society  a  body  blow  in 
his  famous  pamphlet,  "Thoughts  on  African  Colonization,"  published  in  183  2. 
This  pamphlet  converted  many  sincere  and  thoughtful  Emancipationists  to  the 
Abolition  side,  and  the  wealthy  Christian  merchant,  Arthur  Tappan  of  New 
York,  ordered  the  pamphlet  by  the  hundred  copies  for  circulation.  It  was  charged 
that  the  Liberian  Republic  was  a  makeshift  of  democracy,  and  that  it  was  utter 
folly  to  consider  exiling  the  liberated  Negro  people  from  their  homeland  to  such 
a  far-off  wilderness  without  their  own  consent.  Henrv  Clay's  latest  biographer 
speaks  of  the  Society  as  "a  chimerical  scheme  both  as  regards  the  number  of  freed 
men  that  were  deported  and  as  to  their  success  in  Liberia.  It  served  as  a  salve 
for  the  consciences  of  many  Southern  slave-holders,  who  contributed  to  its  funds 
and  thus  thought  they  were  doing  all  that  human  ingenuity  could  devise  to  get 
rid   of  an   odious,    though  profitable  institution." 


GARRISON    STRIKES    THE    SLAVE    TRADE 

Garrison  insisted  that  he  was  striking  at  the  Slave  Trade,  the  traffic  in 
human  beings,  and  that  his  language  was  necessarily  harsh,  severe,  and  even  vio- 
lent. He  burned  with  indignation  at  the  wide-spread  power  and  influence  of  the 
slave-holders  throughout  the  country.  In  the  year  1830  when  he  made  his 
great  Anti-Slavery  speech  in  the  free-thinkers'  hall  in  Boston  (because  none  of 
the  churches  would  open  their  doors  to  him)  he  was  compelled  to  disclaim  allegi- 
ance to  the  opposers  of  religion  but  to  blush  with  shame  because  no  minister 
of  the  gospel  would  tolerate  his  utterances  inside  a  Christian  pulpit.  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher  was  in  the  audience,  with  other  well-known  men.  among  them  the  Rev. 
Samuel  J.  May.      Mr.   May  testified  afterward  that  the  address  was  astounding: 

THE    VOICE   OF   A   PROPHET 

"Never  before  was  I  so  affected  by  the  speech  of  man.  When  he  had  ceased 
speaking,  I  said  to  those  around  me:  'That  is  a  Providential  man.  He  is  a 
prophet.  He  will  shake  our  nation  to  its  center:  but  he  will  shake  slavery  out 
of  it.  We  ought  to  know  him.  We  ought  to  help  him.  Come,  let  us  go  and 
give    him    our    hands.' 

The  next  day  Mr.  May  went  to  Garrison's  boarding  house  and  talked  with 
him  till  2  p.  m.  He  found  this  man  a  humble  printer,  poor  and  unsupported 
by  any  large  following,  but  terribly  in  earnest  in  his  crusade  against  Slavery  and 
Colonization.  He  denounced  the  latter  as  but  a  scheme  to  get  free  people  of 
color  out  of  the  country  so  the  rest  of  the  black  folk  could  be  held  in  securer 
bondage.  He  was  writing  letters  of  moving  and  powerful  appeal  and  protest  to 
prominent   clergymen   like   Lyman    Beecher   and    William    Ellery    Channing.    as    well 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE    NEW 


245 


as  to  statemen  and  other  leaders  of  thought  and  opinion.  Garrison  had  great 
hopes  of  enlisting  Dr.  Beecher,  but  the  violent  and  uncompromising  character  of 
the  crusade  meant  mob  violence  in  turn  and  the  certainty  of  Civil  War.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  said  of  Garrison  that  he  "was  a  man  of  no  mean  ability;  of 
indefatigable  industry;  of  the  most  unbounded  enterprise  and  eagerness;  of  per- 
severance that  pushes  him  on  like  a  law  of  nature;  of  courage  that  amounts  to 
recklessness."  And  he  added,  (to  quote  the  Garrison  Biography)  "had  he  pos- 
sessed, as  a  balance  to  these,  conciliation,  good  nature,  benevolence,  or  even  a 
certain  popular  mirthfulness;  had  he  possessed  the  moderation  and  urbanity  of 
Clarkson,  (the  Abolitionist,  1740-1846),  or  the  deep  piety  of  Wilberforce,  he 
had  been  the  one  man  of  our  age.  These  all  he  lacked.  Had  the  disease  of 
American  needed  only  counter-irritation,  no  better  blister  could  have  been 
applied." 


REV.    WM.    L.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D. 

Our  Mother  says  that  this  Dr.  Breckinridge,  who  was 
her  pastor  when  a  Louisville  school  g"irl,  was  the  gentlest 
and  most  beloved  of  men.  He  was  as  different  from  his 
brother    Robert    as    day    and    night. 


THE    SOUTH   AROUSED   TO   RESIST 

It  was  this  Abolition  Crusade  that  alarmed  and  horrified  even  Emancipation- 
ists like  the  Rev.  Thomas  Sydenham  Witherspoon.  He  it  was  who  predicted  nation- 
wide division  and  ultimate  bloodshed  as  the  outcome.  And  the  Lyman  Beecher 
Biography  comments  thus  upon  his  words:  "Southern  Presbyteries  and  Synods 
were  expressing  themselves  emphatically  in  the  same  direction.  The  Princeton 
Review  had  already,  as  early  as  1832.  recommended  a  plan  of  reorganization,  by 
which  'the  churches  in  the  slave-holding  States  will  be  separated  from  those  in 
the  Northern    States.' 

Dr.  Beecher  himself  said:  "The  South  has  generally  stood  neutral.  They 
had  opposed  going  to  extremes  in  theology  either  way.  Rice,  of  Virginia  was  a 
noble  fellow,  and  held  all  steady.  It  was  Rice  who  said,  after  my  trial,  that 
I  ought  to  be  tried  once  in  five  years,  to  keep  up  the  orthodoxy  of  the  church. 
He  was  full  of  good  humor,  and  did  so  much  good.  But  they  got  scared  about 
Abolition.  Rice  got  his  head  full  of  that  thing,  and  others.  John  C.  Calhoun 
was  at  the  bottom  of  it.      I  know  of  his  doing   things — writing  to   ministers,   and 


246 


THE   FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


REV.    ROBERT    J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D. 


A  powerful  figure  in  the  Old  and  New  School  struggle  100  years  ago. 
Dr.  Breckinridge  warmly  supported  Dr.  Wilson  in  the  "Western  Memorial" 
protest  tio  the  General  Assembly  of  1834  against  alleged  disloyalties  in  doc- 
trine of  New  Scholol  men.  The  Assembly  did  not  receive  this  "Memorial" 
favorably.  The  strictures  on  previous  Assemblies  were  answered;  and  like- 
wise the  charges  against  Presbyteries  and  individual]  ministers.  The  danger 
of   a   divided    church   was    immediate. 

The  famous  "Act  and  Testimony"  was1  drawn  up  after  the  "Memorial" 
was  not  accepted  by  the  Assembly  of  1834.  Dr.  Breckinridge  and  Dr.  Wilson 
were  foremost  in  this  movement  and  document.  A  convention  was  called  to 
meet  in  Philadelphia  in  May  (1835)  preceeding  the  Assembly.  The  same  griev- 
ances and  charges  were  repeated:  41  Presbyteries  and  13  minorities  of  Pres- 
byteries were  represented  and  the  Assembly  of  1835  gave  very  favorable 
consideration  to  every  grievance  and  charge.  But  the  Assembly  was  not 
ready  to  break  off  friendly   relations  with  the  New   England   churches. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  at  once  prosecuted  and  suspended  the  Rev. 
Albert  Barnes;  but  the  Assembly  of  1836  not  only  reversed  this  action  but 
triumphantly  vindicated  him.  The  "Act  and  Testimony"  side  thereupon  called 
another  pre-Assembly  Convention  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1S37.  Confidential 
correspondence  and  activity  to  insure  a  majority  in  the  Assembly,  and  to  take 
decisive  action  looking  to  a  division  of  the  Church  if  they  failed,  brought  the 
crisis  speedily  ion.  The  "Princeton  Review"  appealed  for  peace  and  unity 
in  the  Church;  but  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  men  felt  that  division  was  inevit- 
able. When  a  committee  of  both  sides  reported  to  the  Assembly  the  impos- 
sibility'and  unconstitutionality  of  a  voluntary  division,  Dr.  Breckinridge  led 
the  fight  for  decisive  action;  and  the  Western  Reserve  Synod  and  the  Synods 
of  Utica,  Geneva  and  Genesee  were  excinded.  He  also  moved  the  dissolution 
of   the   Third   Presbytery   of   Philadelphia   to    which   Mr.    Barnes   belonged. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  was  an  Emancipationist  and  Colonizationist  and  in  vio- 
lent aversion  to  Abolitionists1  like  Garrison.  But  he  was  an  undying  Union 
man  in  the  Civil  War;  and  it  was  against  the  severity  and  political  character 
of  his  loyalty  tests  upon  Southern  members  of  the  General  Assembly  during 
the  Civil  War  period  that  gave  rise  to  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Wilson's  famous  "Dec- 
laration   and    Testimony." 

As  champions  of  the  Colonization  Society  Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge  an  1 
his  brother  John  went  to  Boston  in  July,  1S34,  to  hold  a  series  of  public 
meetings  to  offset  Garrison's  attacks  on  Colonization.  The  Mayor  gave  warn- 
ing that  the  mob  would  attack  any  sort  of  a  meeting  about  slavery:  and. 
though  widely  advertised  to  be  opened  at  a  Methodist  Church  on  Sunday 
night,  the  meeting  was  called  off.  Dr.  Breckinridge  afterward  blamed  Gar- 
rison   for   tTie   hostility   of  public   sentiment   even,  in   pro-slavery  Boston. 

July  25,  1834,  Garrison  called  upon  the  Rev.  John  Breckinridge,  and  for 
several  hours  discussed  the  whole  slavery  question  and  the  means  of  its 
abolition.  The  first  half  hour  was  amicable  and  then  Mr.  Breckinridge 
became  extasperated  and  denounced  the  Abolition  propaganda  in  severe  lan- 
guage. He  refused  to  debate  with  Garrison,  who  went  home  much  depressed 
over  the  interview  and  got  down  on  his  knees  and  prayed  for  the  eradication 
of   bitterness   between    them. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  247 

telling  them  to  do  this  and  do  that.  The  South  finally  took  the  Old  School 
side.  It  was  a  cruel  thing — it  was  a  cursed  thing,  and  it  was  Slavery  that 
did  it." 

THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  CONFLICT 

Charles  Beccher,  the  biographer,  adds  this  comment:  "So  the  great  and  im- 
posing fabric  was  shattered  in  fragments,  and  the  Rebellion  now  raging  was 
not  a  distant  consequence.  And  it  was  ideas  that  did  it.  It  was  ideas  concern- 
ing God  and  man.  Ideas  concerning  the  divine  administration,  the  government 
of  the  universe,  the  origin  of  evil — that  convulsed  the  church  and  convulsed  the 
nation;  and  why  should  they  not?  Theology  and  Politics  are  next  of  kin. 
Their  study  is  but  the  study,  in  different  relations  and  connections,  of  the  fun- 
damental principles,  and  historical  facts,  and  moving  powers  of  the  universal 
government   of   God." 


The  Synod  of  Kentuciky  was  overwhelmingly  anti-slavery.  It  was  but 
two  years  later  that  President  John  C.  Young-  of  Centre  College,  wrote  one 
of  the  greatest  Emancipation  Reports  for  the  Synod  that  the  whole  period 
produced.  Rev.  Wm.  L.  Breokinridgie  was  on  that  Committee  of  Synod  and 
indorsed  the  report  fully.  These  Breckinridge  Brothers  represented  the  very 
best   Southern   sentiment   that   was   sincerely   desirous    of    ending   slavery. 

It  seems  that  the  Southern  Old  School  men  supported  the  conservative 
"Act  and  Testimony"  side  100  years  ago  because  they  were  willing  to  exclude 
the  subject  >of  slavery  from  the  Assembly  in  consideration  of  the  backing 
they  received  to  discipline  and  excind  the  New  School  Synods.  The:  Abolition 
Terror  was  thus  a  means  of  Old  School  victory  for  the  time,  because  the  very 
mention  of  it  in  the  councils  of  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  conventions  would 
havei   split    them    into    fragments    and    factions    immediately. 


CHAPTER   XLVI 


,3Vvth   U^lrrr-c  Slxiph  ^\xh«tvt  Zhxx k&v\x  7- 


f  A       UGUSTUS  C.    BUELL,    the   biographer  of  Andrew   Jackson,   says   that 
VX  \  the    General    made    a    promise     to     Mrs.     Jackson,      which     he     often 

Jj  \  repeated,  that  when  he  "got  out  of  public  life,"  where  he  was  free 
from  the  suspicion  of  ulterior  motives,  he  would  make  a  profession 
of  his  faith  and  come  into  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  "Rough 
as  his  nature  was  in  many  respects,"  says  Buell,  "and  fierce  as  his  career  may 
have  been,  Andrew  Jackson  was  filled  with  the  instincts  of  purity  and  the  im- 
pulses  of   righteousness." 

The  biographer  then  relates  that  when  the  General  heard  of  the  death  of 
Aaron  Burr  in  183  6  he  remarked  that  Burr  came  within  one  trait  of  exalted 
greatness,  and  that  was  his  lack  of  reverence.  As  a  backwoodsman  Jackson  first 
saw  him  in  Philadelphia  in  1796  and  noted  this  deep  spiritual  void  in  the  nature 
of  Burr.  What  especially  displeased  Jackson  was  the  remarks  Burr  made  about 
the  dying  confession  of  Hamilton  reminding  him  of  an  expiring  monk  trying  to 
square  himself  with  Deity  and  Death.  "If  I  had  thought  such  a  thing,  after 
killing  a  man,"   said  Jackson,    "I   would  have  left  its  utterance  to   somebody  else." 

The  point  is  that  General  Jackson  had  the  root  of  genuine  religion  in  him, 
namely,  reverence.  And  it  does  not  surprise  us  to  read  in  Buell's  Life  as  to  his 
conversation:  "In  regard  to  General  Jackson's  formal  communion,  with  the  or- 
thodox Presbyterian  Church  in  1843,  we  think  it  may  be  safely  described  as  the 
outward  manifestation  of  a  change  of  heart  which  really  began  with  the  passing 
of  Mrs.  Jackson  in  1828.  In  our  own  observation  we  have  seen  and  known 
some  men  as  obdurate,  as  exultantly  brave,  as  heedless  of  danger,  as  stoical  under 
bodily  pain,  and,  generally  speaking,  as  hard  and  grim  as  Jackson  may  have 
been  at  his  worst,  to  be  softened,  chastened  and  subdued  suddenly  and  perma- 
nently by  some  irrcperable  bereavement  .  that  inflicted  an  unspeakable  sorrow, 
never   to   be   assuaged. 

"It  usually  happens  that  the  bravest  and  hardest  men,  if  they  be  men  of 
chivalry  and  honor,  are  the  tendcrcst  lovers.  That  these  words  describe  General 
Jackson,  we  do  not  think  any  close  student  of  his  nature  will  try  to  gainsay. 
Now,  such  a  man  may  be  very  wicked  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term, 
so  long  as  no  great  shock  comes  to  his  brain  and  heart,  to  teach  him — with  all 
the  force  of  a  rifle  bullet  but  without  its  dcadliness — that  this  life  is  not  all  in 
what  we  see  today  or  may  have  seen  yesterday.  Time  and  again  have  we  seen 
such  men  take  their  first  glimpse  of  the  soul's  immortality  in  a  hope,  vague  and 
shadowy  at  first,  but  constant  within  them  and  always  growing,  that  they  may, 
when  this  life  is  done,  meet  and  greet  once  more  and  forever  the  loved  one  in 
the  realm  of  God's  Eternity. 

"There  can  be  no  doubt,  we  think,  that  this  preparation  for  the  Christian 
change,    if    not    the    change    itself,    crept    over    the    heart    and    through    the    soul    of 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW  249 

Andrew  Jackson  when  he  consigned  to  the  Hermitage  Garden  the  mortal  ashes 
of  his  Rachel.  At  any  rate,  we  know  that  from  that  moment  he  mended  the 
ways  of  his  life.  He  subdued  his  daily  walk  and  he  moderated  his  daily  con- 
versation. True,  his  temper  rose  now  and  then — but  so  does  the  wrath  of  the 
righteous.      One   need   not   be  a   sheep   to   be   a   Christian. 

"But  on  the  whole  the  Jackson  who  survived  'Aunt  Rachel'  was  a  different 
man  from  the  one  she  called  husband  in  her  lifetime;  a  milder,  gentler-spoken, 
more  tender-voiced  and  more  reverent  man  than  she  had  ever  known.  The  love 
he  bore  her  in  the  body  seemed  to  follow  her  soul  away  somewhere,  he  knew 
not  where,  but  he  did  know  that  it  followed  her  spirit;  and  in  his  rugged, 
strife-scarred,  storm-beaten  and  pain-seared  simplicity  of  manhood,  that  itself 
was  a  religion.  These  observations — trite  in  themselves,  mayhap — lead  us  irresist- 
ibly to  the  conclusion  that,  when  General  Jackson  formally  and  outwardly  'joined 
the  church,'  in  1843,  he  only  avowed  in  the  sight  of  men  a  faith  he  had  long 
ago  confessed  to  God  Almighty  in  the  silent  sanctuary  of  his  own  soul." 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  profound  friendship  of  Dr.  Gideon  Black- 
burn and  Andrew  Jackson  in  another  connection,  together  with  the  fact  that 
Dr.  Blackburn  duly  urged  upon  the  General  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  to 
make  a  profession  of  his  faith  and  unite  with  the  church.  But  there  was  another 
Presbyterian  minister  who  exercised  the  pastoral  relation  with  the  General  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  and  brought  him  to  the  decision,  under  God's  grace,  which 
had  been  so  long  deferred.  This  minister  was  the  Rev.  John  Todd  Edgar,  D.  D.. 
who,  with  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn,  stands  out  in  the  spiritual  experience  of 
Andrew  Jackson  as  Dr.  James  Smith  and  Dr.  Phineas  Gurley  do  in  the  spiritual 
life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  is  well  that  coming  generations  should  hear  the 
story  of  this  eminent  bosom  friendship  and  the  remarkable  man  of  God  who 
brought  so  great  a  joy  of  salvation  and  peace  to  the  rugged  heart  of  Old  Hickory. 

REV.    JOHN   TODD   EDGAR 

From  the  historic  records  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Frankfort,  Ky., 
we  read  that:  "Rev.  John  Todd  Edgar,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  in 
1793.  His  name  first  appears  on  the  roll  of  t-he  Synod  in  1817.  He  came  to 
Frankfort  in  December,  1827,  and  took  charge  of  this  church  as  stated  supply. 
He  found  it  in  a  confused  and  disorganized  condition,  without  officers,  save  one 
elder,  and  he  a  non-resident.  Shortly  after  his  coming  the  church  was  greatly 
strengthened  by  accessions,  which  gave  material  for  office-bearers,  and  it  was  at 
once  reorganized  by  the  election  of  a  full  bench  of  ruling  elders  and  a  board  of 
deacons. 

"In  March.  1829.  Mr.  Edgar  accepted  a  call  to  the  pastor's  office,  which 
he  held  until  July,  1833,  when  he  removed  to  Nashville,  Tenn.  He  took  charge 
as  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  city,  and  in  it  he  ended  his 
labors  in  the  year  1860.  Dr.  Edgar  was  greatly  beloved  by  this  congregation, 
and  very  Highly  esteemed  by  the  whole  community.  He  was  a  man  of  very 
popular  manners  and  address,  and  an  eloquent  and  successful  preacher.  He  was 
the  acknowledged  pulpit  orator  of  the  Synod,  and  his  services  were  constantly  in 
demand    elsewhere    while   pastor   here." 

A  closer  examination  of  the  records  of  the  First  Church  at  Frankfort  dis- 
closes some   very   fine  spiritual   facts  about   Dr.    Edgar's   pastorate   in   the   Kentucky 


250  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

State  Capital:  "During  his  ministry  here  Dr.  Edgar,  under  direction  of  Pres- 
bytery, spent  a  considerable  part  of  the  summer  and  fall  months  in  missionary 
tours,  confirming  and  strengthening  the  weak  and  destitute  churches  in  different 
parts  of  the  Presbytery.  He  also  preached  statedly  to  the  country  churches  in 
this   vicinity. 

"At  that  period  the  Presbyteries  seemed  to  have  exercised  a  very  close  watch 
and  paternal  care  over  their  weaker  and  struggling  congregations,  making  regular 
details  from  the  pulpits  of  the  stronger  churches  for  their  spiritual  nourishment. 
These  ministers  were  sent  according  to  the  scripture  injunction,  'two  and  two.' 
holding  usually  four-days  meetings,  administering  the  ordinances,  concluding  with 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  Sabbath.  The  stated  meetings  of 
Presbytery,  and  especially  of  Synod,  were  occasions  of  great  import  and  interest 
to  the  churches  and   to  the  whole  community. 


REV.    JOHN    T.    EDGAR,    D.    D. 


"The  entertainment  of  these  bodies  no  doubt  fully  taxed  the  ability  of  the 
places  where  the  meetings  were  held,  but  the  scriptural  rule  of  hospitality  without 
grudging'  seemed  to  have  prevailed,  for  the  occasions  were  earnstly  sought  after, 
contended  for  and  enjoyed  by  the  churches.  That  being  before  the  day  of  good 
roads  and  adequate  public  conveyances,  the  visiting  ministers  and  elders  came 
mostly  on  horseback,  occasionally  in  their  own  vehicles.  The  congregation  was 
called  on  to  entertain  'man  and  beast,'  as  is  shown  by  sundry  livery  bills  in  our 
church  papers,  paid  bv  our  treasurer,  one  of  which,  for  keeping  the  horses  of 
Synod,  amounted  to  $78.22.  In  contrast  somewhat  with  these  ecclesiastical 
bodies  of  today,  they  were  then  in  no  hurry  to  depart,  remaining  over  the  Sab- 
bath, and  thus  these  convocations  were  a  benediction  to  the  church  and  com- 
munity." 

Dr.  Edgar  was  not  only  an  evangelical  but  an  evangelistic  preacher  and  pastor. 
When  the  Frankfort  pulpit  became  vacant  in  the  latter  part  of  1827.  as  there 
were  no  elders   to   represent   the   church   at   Presbytery,    a   very   strong   committee   of 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW 


251 


Frankfort  citizens,  among  them  John  J.  Crittenden,  went  to  that  body  with 
an  earnest  request  for  the  ministerial  services  of  Mr.  Edgar,  who  had  been  acting 
as  temporary  supply.  This  request  was  granted  and  "Shortly  after  Mr.  Edgar's 
coming  the  church  experienced  perhaps  the  greatest  revival  and  work  of  divine 
grace  in  its  history.  Over  sixty  persons  were  added  to  the  membership,  many  of 
whom  were  heads  of  families  and  prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  the 
place." 


Ephraim  M.  Brank  of  Greenville,  Muhlenberg-  County,  Ky.,  about  1850. 
Chief  of  the  famous  Kentucky  Rifleman  at  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  Jan- 
uary 8,  1815,  who  struck  terror  to  the  advancing-  columns  of  British  veterans 
by  his'  deadly  aim  from  the  breastworks.  He  was  described  by  the  British 
historian  as  "a  tall  man  standing-  on  the  breastworks,  dressed  in  linsey- 
woolsey,  with  buckskin  leggings,  etc.  .  .  .  The  roar  of  cannon  had  no  effect 
upon  the  figure  before  us;  he  seemed  fixed  and  motionless  as  a  statue.  At 
last  he  moved,  threw  back  his  hat  rim  over  the  crown  with  his  left  hand, 
raised  the  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  and  took  aim  at  our  group."  The  effect  was 
so  terrific  that  he  seemed  a  phantom  of  Death  itself  until  the  enemy  wavered 
and    fell    back    in    utter    defeat. 


When  James  Parton  wrote  his  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson  he  communicated 
with  Dr.  Edgar  with  reference  to  the  circumstances  under  which  the  General 
made  his  public  profession  of  faith  and  united  with  the  little  Hermitage  Church. 
Dr.    Edgar   made   answer   that   sometime   during    the    season    of    1839,    the    adopted 


25  2  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

daughter  of  General  Jackson  was  ill  and  desired  his  presence  to  administer  spirit- 
ual consolation.  The  General  was  present  in  the  room  during  the  conversation. 
She  was  troubled  about  being  "a  great  sinner."  This  statement  aroused  the 
astonishment  of  the  General  who  said,  "You  call  yourself  a  sinner?  Why.  I  had 
always  considered  you  the  very  incarnation  of  goodness  and  purity.  You  should 
unite   with   Dr.    Edgar's   church   by   all    means." 

STORY  OF  A  GREAT  SERMON 

Louis  Albert  Banks,  who  gives  a  very  impressive  version  of  this  whole  inci- 
dent in  his  book,  "Religious  Life  of  Famous  Americans,"  says  that  Dr.  Edgar 
did  not  believe  General  Jackson  was  clear  in  his  own  mind  what  constituted  a 
true  repentance  and  acceptance  with  God.  It  so  happened  that  in  a  very  short 
while  Dr.  Edgar  was  called  upon  to  conduct  a  revival  meeting  in  the  little  Herm- 
itage Chapel.  General  Jackson  was  a  very  constant  and  attentive  auditor.  The 
evangelist  took  as  the  main  thought  of  his  discourse  that  evening  the  Providence 
of  God  in  the  affairs  of  men.  He  pointed  out  the  many  ways  and  times  of 
divine  protection  and  interposition.  He  drew  a  graphic  and  eloquent  picture  of 
General  Jackson's  own  personal  exposure  to  dangers  seen  and  unseen  in  his  long 
and  perilous  career  and  how  God  had  preserved  him  alive  almost  by   miracle. 

General  Jackson  was  deeply  moved.  He  sat  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
minister  and  at  the  close  of  service  got  in  his  carriage  and  was  driving  back  to 
the  Hermitage.  Dr.  Edgar  had  come  out  on  horseback  and  rode  past  the  car- 
riage of  the  General,  who  exclaimed:  "Doctor  Edgar,  I  want  to  talk  with  you. 
Won't  you   go  home  with  me  tonight?" 

Dr.  Edgar  answered  that  he  had  promised  to  go  to  see  a  sick  lady  and  could 
not  possibly  break  his  word.  The  General  urged  him  three  distinct  and  separate 
times  to  stay;  but  the  pastor  replied  that  he  would  come  the  very  first  thing  in 
the  morning.  That  was  an  anxious  and  momentous  night  to  Old  Hickory.  He 
paced  back  and  forth  in  his  room,  talked  to  his  adopted  daughter,  and  prayed 
as  best  he  could.  Even  James  Parton  was  moved  to  say  of  this  great  spiritual 
crisis:  "What  sins  he  repented  of  and  what  actions  of  his  life  he  wished  he  had 
not  done,  no  one  knows,  or  ever  will  know.  But  the  value  of  this  upheaving 
of  the  soul  depends  upon  that.  There  is  a  repentance  which  is  radical,  sublime, 
regenerating.  There  is  a  repentance  which  is  shallow  and  fruitless.  Conversion 
means  a  turning.  It  is  only  when  we  know  from  what  a  man  turns,  and  to 
what  he  turns,   that  we  can  know   whether  his  turning  is  of  any  benefit  to  him." 

Dr.  Edgar  reached  the  Hermitage  shortly  after  sunrise.  The  General  had 
wrestled  the  whole  problem  through  as  Jacob  did  of  old.  and  he  informed  the 
pastor  that  he  wished  to  unite  with  the  church  that  morning.  He  was  ready 
in  every  way  but  one — he  could  not.  from  the  heart,  say  that  he  forgave  his 
enemies.  The  pastor  insisted  with  gentle  but  uncompromising  frankness  that 
as  he  forgave  so  would  he  himself  be  forgiven.  At  length  the  General  assented. 
Dr.  Banks  gives  a  touching  account  of  the  reception  of  the  General  into  the 
bosom  of  the  church: 

A  MEMORABLE  COMMUNION  SERVICE 

"The  Hermitage  Church  was  crowded  that  Sunday  morning  to  the  utmost 
of  its  small  capacity.      At  the  windows  were  the  eager  faces  of  the  colored  servants. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW  253 

After  the  usual  services  General  Andrew  Jackson  rose  in  his  place  to  make  the 
required  public  declaration  of  his  concurrence  with  the  doctrines  and  his  resolve 
to  obey  the  precepts  of  the  church.  He  leaned  heavily  upon  his  walking  stick 
with  both  hands;  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  His  daughter,  the  fair  young 
matron,  stood  beside  him.  The  silence  was  profound  and  the  emotion  of 
the  people  beyond  description  as  the  General  answered  the  questions  proposed  to 
him. 

"When  at  last  the  formal  ceremony  was  ended  and  he  was  pronounced  a 
member  of  the  church,  and  Dr.  Edgar  was  about  to  continue  the  services,  the 
long  restrained  feelings  of  the  congregation  burst  forth  in  sobs  and  devout  excla- 
mations which  compelled  him  to  pause  for  several  minutes.  The  clergyman  was 
himself  speechless  with  emotion  and  abandoned  himself  to  the  exultation  of  the 
hour.  A  familiar  hymn  was  announced,  and  all  the  people,  both  within  the 
church  and  outside  in  the  gathered  groups  about  the  windows,  joined  with  an 
esctatic   fervor   which   at   once  expressed   and    relieved    their   feelings-" 

Mrs.  W.  H.  Richardson,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  a  recent  article  descriptive 
of  the  Hermitage  Church  as  it  is  today,  quotes  from  an  old  and  valued  record  of 
that  memorable  service  thus:  "It  may  well  be  imagined  that  the  scene  was  thrill- 
ing when  this  veteran  of  years  and  service  of  his  country,  professed  allegiance  to 
the  Sovereign  of  all  worlds,  and  promised  an  eternal  fidelity  to  Him  who  demands 
the  homage   of  all   created   intelligence. 

"The  whole  preparatory  service  was  deeply  interesting,  but  when  the  time 
arrived  for  "him  and  his  relatives  and  friends  to  arise  and  take  their  seats  at  the 
table  of  their  Ascended  Lord  and  Redeemer,  a  scene  of  weeping  gratitude  and 
joy  seemed  to  pervade  the  whole  congrgation.  To  see  this  aged  veteran,  whose 
head  had  stood  erect  in  battle  and  through  scenes  of  fearful  bearing,  bending 
that  head  in  humble  and  adoring  reverence  at  the  table  of  his  Divine  Master, 
while  tears  of  penitence  and  joy  trickled  down  his  careworn  cheeks  was  indeed 
a  spectacle  of  most  intense  moral  interest.  No  one  indeed  could  question  the 
sincerity  of  his  profession  of  faith  in  the  Son  of  God." 

THE   CRISIS   OVER    SLAVERY 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  South  during  the  Civil  War  took  positive 
ground  on  the  exclusion  of  all  social  and  political  questions  from  consideration 
and  discussion  in  religious  assemblies.  In  their  famous  Address  on  the  State  of 
the  Country,  adopted  in  session  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  in  December,  1861,  we  find 
this  unmistakable  language:  "The  only  conceivable  condition,  therefore,  upon 
which  the  Church  of  the  North  and  the  South  could  remain  together  as  one 
body,  with  any  prospect  of  success,  is  the  rigorous  exclusion  of  the  questions  and 
passions  of  the  forum  from  its  halls  of  debate.  This  is  what  always  ought  to 
be  done.  The  provinces  of  Church  and  State  are  perfectly  distinct,  and  the  one 
has  no  right  to  usurp  the  jurisdiction  of  the  other.  The  State  is  a  natural  insti- 
tute, founded  in  the  constitution  of  man  as  moral  and  social,  and  designed  to 
realize  the  idea  of  justice.  It  is  the  society  of  rights.  The  church  is  a  super- 
natural institute,  founded  in  the  facts  of  redemption,  and  is  designed  to  realize 
the  idea  of  grace.  It  is  the  society  of  the  redeemed.  The  State  aims  at  social 
order,  the  church  at  spiritual  holiness.  The  State  looks  to  the  visible  and  out- 
ward,   the   church   is   concerned   for   the   invisible   and    inward.      The   badge    of    the 


254  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

State's  authority  is  the  sword  by  which  it  becomes  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  and  a 
praise  to  them  that  do  well.  The  badge  of  the  church's  authority  is  the  keys 
by  which  it  opens  and  shuts  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  according  as  men  are  believ- 
ing or  impenitent.  The  power  of  the  church  is  exclusively  spiritual,  that  of  the 
State   includes   the   exercise    of    force." 

Upon  the  subject  of  African  Slavery  and  the  proposition  to  make  the  holding 
of  human  beings  in  bondage  a  ground  of  exclusion  from  church  fellowship  we 
find  these  defensive  arguments  set  forth  with  masterly  logic:  "There  is  one 
difference  which  so  radically  and  fundamentally  distinguishes  the  North  and  the 
South,  that  it  is  becoming  every  day  more  and  more  apparent  that  the  religious, 
as  well  as  the  secular,  interests  of  both  will  be  more  effectually  promoted  by  a 
complete  and  lasting  separation.  The  antagonism  of  Northern  and  Southern 
sentiment  on  the  subject  of  slavery  lies  at  the  root  of  all  the  difficulties  which 
have  resulted  in  the  dismemberment  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  involved  us  in 
the  horrors  of  an  unnatural  war.  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
has  been  enabled  by  Divine  grace  to  pursue,  for  the  most  part,  an  eminently  con- 
servative, because  a  thoroughly  scriptural,  policy  in  relation  to  this  delicate 
question.  It  has  planted  itself  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  utterly  refused  to 
make  slave-holding  a  sin,  or  non-slave-holding  a  term  of  communion.  But 
though  both  sections  are  agreed  as  to  this  general  principle,  it  is  not  to  be  dis- 
guised that  the  North  exercises  a  deep  and  settled  antipathy  to  slavery  itself,  while 
the  South   is   equally  zealous   in   its  defense. 

"Recent  events  can  have  no  other  effect  than  to  confirm  the  antipathy  on  the 
one  hand  and  strengthen  the  attachment  on  the  other.  The  Northern  section 
of  the  church  stands  in  the  awkward  predicament  of  maintaining  in  one  breath, 
that  slavery  is  an  evil  which  ought  to  be  abolished,  and  of  asserting  in  the  next, 
that  it  is  not  a  sin  to  be  visited  by  exclusion  from  communion  of  the  saints. 
The  consequence  is,  that  it  plays  partly  in  the  hands  of  abolitionists  and  partly 
in  the  hands  of  slave-holders,  and  weakens  its  influence  with  both.  It  occupies 
the  position  of  a  prevaricating  witness  whom  neither  party  will  trust.  It  would 
be  better  therefore  for  the  moral  power  of  the  Northern  section  of  the  church 
to  get  entirely  quit  of  the  subject.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  intuitively  obvious 
that  the  Southern  section  of  the  church,  while  even  partially  under  the  control 
of  those  who  are  hostile  to  slavery,  can  never  have  free  and  unimpeded  access  to 
the  slave  population.  Its  ministers  and  elders  will  always  be  liable  to  some 
degree  of  suspicion.  In  the  present  circumstances.  Northern  alliance  would  be 
absolutely  fatal." 

A   FAMOUS   DEFENSE    OF   SLAVERY 

Then  follows  the  view  of  slavery  adhered  to  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
the  South  at  that  crucial  time:  "We  would  have  it  distinctly  understood  that, 
in  our  ecclesiastical  capacity,  we  are  neither  the  friends  nor  the  foes  of  slavery; 
that  is  to  say,  we  have  no  commission  either  to  propagate  or  abolish  it.  The 
policy  of  its  existence  or  non-existence  is  a  question  which  exclusively  belongs  to 
the  State.  We  have  no  right,  as  a  church,  to  enjoin  it  as  a  duty,  or  to  condemn 
it  as  a  sin.  Our  business  is  with  the  duties  which  spring  from  the  relation:  the 
duties  of  the  master  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  their  slaves  on  the  other.  These 
duties  we  are  to  proclaim  and  enforce  with  spiritual  sanctions.  The  social,  civil, 
political   problems   connected   with   this   great   subject   transcend   our   sphere,    as   God 


THE    OLD    SOUTH    IN    THE    NEW 


255 


has  not  entrusted  to  His  church  the  organization  of  society,  the  construction  of 
Government,  nor  the  allotment  of  individuals  to  their  various  stations.  The 
church  has  as  much  right  to  preach  to  the  monarchies  of  Europe,  and  the  despot- 
ism of  Asia,  the  doctrines  of  republican  equality,  as  to  preach  to  the  govern- 
ments of  the  South  the  extirpation  of  slavery.  This  position  is  impregnable, 
unless   it   can   be   shown   that   slavery   is   a   sin." 

The  authors  of  this  historic  document  then  address  themselves  to  a  defense 
of  the  institutions  of  slavery:  "Slavery  is  no  new  thing.  It  has  not  only  existed 
for  ages  in  the  world,  but  it  has  existed,  under  every  dispensation  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  in  the  Church  of  God.  Indeed,  the  first  organization  of  the  church 
as  a  visible  society,  separate  and  distinct  from  the  unbelieving  world,  was  inaugu- 
rated in  the  family  of  a  slave-holder.  Among  the  very  first  persons  to  whom 
the  seal  of  circumcision  was  affixed,  were  the  slaves  of  the  father  of  the  faithful, 
some  born  in  his  house,  and  others  bought  with  his  money. 


m*^^B^^^M 

■  -v? 

■ 

*"•  s?               5-;  'i :."%a 

'••< 

THE    BRANK    RESIDENCE,    GREENVILLE,    KY. 


"Slavery  again  re-appears  under  the  Law.  God  sanctions  it  in  the  first  table 
of  the  Decalogue,  and  Moses  treats  it  as  an  institution  to  be  regulated,  not  abol- 
ished; legitimated,  and  not  condemned.  We  come  down  to  the  age  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  we  find  it  again  in  the  churches  founded  by  the  Apostles  under 
the  plenary   inspiration    of   the   Holy    Ghost.      These    facts   are    utterly    amazing,    if 

slavery  is  the  enormous  sin  which  its  enemies  represent  it  to  be We  stand 

exactly  where  the  Church  of  God  has  always  stood — from  Abraham  to  Moses, 
from  Moses  to  Christ,  from  Christ  to  the  Reformers,  and  from  the  Reformers  to 
ourselves.  We  stand  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  being  the  Chief  cornerstone.  Shall  we  be  excluded  from  the  fel- 
lowship of  our  brethren  in  other  lands,  because  we  dare  not  depart  from  the 
charter  of  our  faith?  Shall  we  be  branded  with  the  stigma  of  reproach,  because 
we  cannot  consent  to  corrupt  the  Word  of  God  to  suit  the  intuitions  of  an  infidel 
philosophy?  Shall  our  names  be  cast  out  as  evil,  and  the  finger  of  scorn  pointed 
at  us,  because  we  utterly  refuse  to  break  our  communion  with  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,    with  Moses,   David,   and   Isaiah,    with   Apostles,    Prophets   and   Martyrs. 


256  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

with  all  the  noble  army  of  confessors  who  have  gone  to  glory  from  slave-holding 
countries  and  from  a  slave-holding  church,  without  ever  having  dreamed  that 
they  were  living  in  mortal  sin,  by  conniving  at  slavery  in  the  midst  of  them.' 
If    so,    we    shall    take    consolation    in    the    cheering    consciousness    that    the    Master 

has  accepted  us We   feel   that   the  souls  of   our  slaves   are   a   solemn   trust, 

and  we  shall  strive  to  present  them  faultless  and  complete  before  the  presence 
of   God-" 

ANDREW  JACKSON   AND   THE    FEDERAL    UNION 

We  have  cited  this  famous  document  and  its  defense  of  slavery  and  the  South 
in  connection  with  the  story  of  Andrew  Jackson's  religious  experience  because  it 
will  afford  us  clearer  evidence  to  demonstrate  how  these  acute  and  irreconcilable 
issues  were  settled  in  the  crucible  of  history.  There  is  a  lot  of  fundamental 
truth  in  the  argument  for  the  entire  and  eternal  separation  of  Church  and  State 
touching  these  vital  problems  of  human  life  and  liberty:  and  perhaps  we  should 
consider  first  how  Old  Hickory  met  the  issue  of  Nullification  and  Secession. 
His  biographer,  Buell,  leaves  no  doubt  in  any  mind  as  to  where  General  Jackson 
stood.  It  was  at  the  famous  Jefferson  Day  Banquet  in  Washington  City  during 
Jackson's  first  administration: 

"The  Jefferson  banquet  was  a  grand  one.  To  the  President  was,  of  course, 
accorded  the  honor  of  the  first  volunteer  toast.  No  one — except  his  private  secre- 
tary and  the  members  of  his  'kitchen  cabinet' — had  the  remotest  inkling  of  what 
was  to  come.  Only  Benton,  Hill,  Lewis  and  Kendall  knew  the  President's  inten- 
tion. The  general  drift  of  the  regular  toasts,  as  Benton  describes  the  affair,  and 
of  the  short  speeches  that  accompanied  them,  had  been  that  of  an  effort  to 
identify  Jefferson's  teachings  with  the  ultra  State-rights  theory  and  to  make  him, 
not  the  apostle  of  democracy,   so   much  as  the  high  priest  of   nullification. 

"When  Jackson  rose  to  the  privilege  of  the  leading  volunteer  toast,  he 
straightened  to  his  full  height,  raised  his  right  hand,  looked  straight  at  Calhoun 
and,  amid  a  hush  that  was  almost  breathless,  said — in  that  crisp,  harsh  tone 
that  had  so  often  been  heard  above  the  crashing  of  many  rifles — 'Our  Federal 
Union---it  must  and  shall  be  preserved.' 

"Not  long  afterward  Isaac  Hill,  who  was  present,  said:  A  proclamation  of 
martial  law  in  South  Carolina  and  an  order  to  arrest  Calhoun  where  he  sat  could 
not  have  come  with  more  blinding,  staggering  force.  All  hilarity  ceased.  The 
President,  without  adding  one  word  in  the  way  of  a  speech,  lifted  up  his  glass 
as  a  notice  that  the  toast  was  to  be  quaffed  standing.  Calhoun  rose  with  the 
rest.  His  glass  so  trembled  in  his  hand  that  a  little  of  the  amber  fluid  trickled 
down  the  side.  Jackson  stood  silent  and  impassive.  There  was  no  response  to 
the  toast.      Calhoun  waited  until  all  sat  down.   .... 

"Of  course  the  issue  involved  then  was  upon  a  minor  question  as  compared 
with  the  one  that  soon  took  its  place.  It  was  only  an  affair  of  customs:  of  a 
tariff.  There  was  nothing  in  that  to  kindle  the  imagination  or  stir  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  It  was  only  when  human  slavery  became  the  issue  that  the  repub- 
lic shook  to  its  foundations.  But  all  great  things  begin  small.  That  Jefferson 
Banquet  in  Washington.  April  13,  1830.  set  going  a  contest  between  two  irrecon- 
cilable schools  of  thought:  between  two  doctrines  that  could  not  live  together 
under   the  same   flag;    between    two   forces   that    must    fight    until   one   or   the   other 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW  257 

perished.      The    contest    begun    at    the  banquet    lasted    thirty-five    years    and    ended 

at   Appomattox.      In    such    a    struggle  it    was    a    miracle    of    good    fortune    for    the 

right    side    to    have    Andrew    Jackson  at    its    start    and    Abraham    Lincoln    at    its 
finish." 

A  QUESTION  OF  SOCIAL  CONSCIENCE 

Upon  the  point  of  putting  any  test  questions  of  social  or  political  policy 
in  the  examination  of  anyone  for  admission  to  the  communion  of  the  church., 
the  South  contended  that  it  was  absolutely  right,  and  within  its  rights,  at  that 
time.  Take  the  case  of  General  Jackson.  Who  for  a  moment,  say  they,  would 
have  imagined  it  necessary  for  his  pastor,  Dr.  Edgar,  to  have  questioned  him, 
privately  or  publicly,  with  regard  to  slave-holding  as  a  moral  obstacle  debarring 
him  from  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper?  That  was  a  matter  of  the  Social 
Conscience  entirely.  Men  like  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn  did  indeed  put  such  tests 
to  men  when  the  issue  was  directly  involved,  and  they  were  right  in  so  doing. 
But  the  biographer  Buell  tells  us  that  as  a  master  and  slave-holder  General  Jack- 
son  was   kind,    gentle   and   indulgent    to   a    fault: 

"At  any  time  during  the  last  forty  or  forty-five  years  of  his  life  the  colored 
people  of  the  region  where  he  lived  considered  being  sold  or  traded  into  the 
possession  of  'Mass  Andrew*  the  next  best  thing  to  freedom — if  not  better.  But 
he  was  absent  much  of  his  time,  and  the  plantation  was  managed  mainly  by 
Mrs.  Jackson,  while  she  lived,  or  by  the  overseer  after  her  death.  Both  of  them 
were  wont  to  complain  that  whenever  he  was  around  home  for  any  length  of 
time,  he  spoiled  the  slaves  so  that  'it  took  quite  a  while  to  get  them  in  good 
working  order  after  he  went  away.'  He  habitually  trusted  his  slaves  with  im- 
portant business  affairs,  frequently  involving  travel  as  far  from  home  as  New 
Orleans  or  to  points  in  the  North  where  the  soil  was  free.  If  any  white  man 
maltreated  or  insulted  one  of  his  slaves,  he  would  call  him  to  an  account  as  swift 
and  summary  as  he  might  exact  on  his  own  account." 

It  was  this  genial,  humane  attitude  toward  the  slaves  upon  the  part  of  the 
typical  master  of  the  Old  South  that  justified  Southern  Presbyterian  toleration 
and  defense  of  the  institution  in  their  own  eyes.  But  we  shall  presently  see  that 
the  continued  existence  of  the  institution  was  utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  very 
life  and  progress  of  the  nation  itself:  and  the  dread  issue  was  joined  in  battle 
and  settled  in  blood,  without  the  shedding  of  which  there  is  no  remission.  So 
that  in  the  end  John  Rankin  was  right.  Slavery  was  a  social  sin.  a  national 
calamity  and  crime.  And  abolition  triumphed  under  God.  But  Andrew  Jack- 
son and  the  South  saved  the  Union  through  the  undying  loyalty  of  the  Border 
States. 

We  wish  to  close  this  chapter  with  a  final  reference  to  the  death  of  Dr. 
Edgar,  President  Jackson's  noble,  eloquent  and  beloved  pastor,  November  14, 
1860:  "Rev.  John  T.  Edgar,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  (Nash- 
ville, Tenn.)  died  of  appoplexy  at  8  a.  m.  yesterday.  He  conducted  services 
as  usual  in  his  church  on  the  previous  evening,  afterward  attending  a  business 
meeting  of  the  church  officers,  and  entertaining  company  at  his  house  until  ten 
o'clock,  and  then  retired.  At  one  o'clock  he  was  stricken,  and  did  not  regain 
consciousness. 


25  8  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF   LINCOLN 

"His  long  residence  in  our  city,  his  eminent  and  distinguished  services  in  the 
pulpit,  his  identification  for  so  many  years  with  every  work  of  charity  and  benev- 
olence, caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  no  class  or  limited  circle,  but 
to  the  whole  community.  His  death  will  be  universally  mourned  as  a  public 
calamity.  His  great  goodness  of  heart,  his  gentle  and  winning  manners,  his 
readiness  and  alacrity  in  responding  at  all  times  to  demands  made  upon  him, 
which  were  frequent  and  continuous,  will  be  remembered  with  gratitude  for 
many,   many   years." 


CHAPTER   XL VII 


eASSIUS  M.  CLAY  in  his  Autobiography  gives  a  clear,  vivid,  ami 
convincing  account  of  his  social  awakening  to  the  iniquity  of  the 
system  of  African  Slavery  in  America,  and  especially  in  Kentucky, 
his  own  native  State:  "My  father  being  the  largest  slave-owner 
in  the  State,  I  early  began  to  study  the  system,  or  rather,  began  to  feel  its  wrongs. 
Whilst  I  was  yet  a  boy  my  sister  Eliza  being  very  fond  of  flowers  and  their 
culture,  I  had  my  miniature  garden  also;  with  great  delight  living  close  to  nature. 
and  feeling  that  serenity  and  passive  happiness  which  she  always  lavishes  upon 
those  who   love  her. 

"One  day,  whilst  absorbed  in  my  favorite  pastime,  I  heard  a  scream,  and 
looking  up,  what  was  my  horror  to  see  Mary  coming  into  the  yard  with  a 
butcher's  knife,  and  her  clothes  all  bloody.  All  the  servants  from  every  cabin, 
big  and  little,  ran  wildly  around  in  tears,  with  exclamations  of  grief  and  terror. 
"Who  was  Mary?  A  handsome  mulatto  girl,  of  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
who  had  been  engaged  years  ago  as  one  of  the  flower-gardeners.  She  was  a  fine 
specimen  of  a  mixed  breed,  rather  light  colored,  showing  the  blood  in  her  cheeks, 
with  hair  wavy,  as  in  the  case  with  mixed  whites  and  blacks.  Her  features  were 
finely  cut,  quite  Caucassian;  whilst  her  eyes  were  large,  black,  languid,  and  uncon- 
scious, except  when  some  passion  stirred  the  fires  of  her  African  blood,  when 
they  flashed  as  the  lightning  through  a  cloud.  It  was  Mary  who  had  assisted 
in  laying  out  my  garden.  A  peach  tree,  then  planted  by  me,  was  in  full  bearing 
long  after  I  was  married,   being  more  than   a  foot  in  diamater. 

"After  some  years  she  was  sent  to  the  house  of  an  overseer,  at  one  of  the 
separate  plantations,  to  cook  for  the  whites,  the  'hands'  and  the  overseer,  his 
wife,   and  two  or  three  grown  daughters. 

"Mary  was  very  bloody,  but  not  hurt.  Payne,  for  that  was  his  name,  was  a 
drunkard;  and,  returning  home  after  sprees,  made  it  his  custom  to  abuse  Mary 
by  words,  which  was  not  submitted  to  in  those  days  by  any  slaves,  when  com- 
ing from  'poor  white  trash,'  as  they  called  the  non-slave-holders.  And  so  she 
in  turn  used  a  woman's  tongue  in  such  a  way  as  to  arouse  the  anger  of  the 
whole  family. 

"Mary  was  sent  into  the  kitchen  or  elsewhere,  whilst  the  family,  having 
made  all  preparations  to  bar  up  the  doors,  prepared  to  punish  the  woman  severely, 
and,  as  the  jury  afterward  decided,  to  kill  her.  They  called  her  in.  and  sent 
her  upstairs  to  shell  the  seed-corn  for  planting.  All  the  field-hands  were  out 
at  work. 

"But  Mary,  suspecting  mischief,  knowing  Payne's  temper,  secreted  a  butcher's 
knife  in  her  bosom,  and  went  sullenly  to  her  work.  As  she  anticipated,  thev 
soon   came   up   and    all    attacked    her.      She    attempted    to    run    downstairs    and    out 


260 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


of  the  house;  but,  finding  the  door  securely  fastened,  she  turned  upon  them 
and  slew  Payne,  and  at  length  succeeded  in  making  her  escape.  She  came  home 
to  the  family.  The  whole  community  was  in  arms,  and  Mary  was  taken  to  jail 
in  a  few  hours.  But  my  father,  being  a  man  of  fortune,  and  a  'long  head,'  Mary 
was  finally  acquitted  and  set   free. 


Rev.  John  G.  Fee.  founder  of  Berea  College,  will  live  in  the  history  of 
human  freedom  with  Rev.  John  Rankin  and  other  great  Southern  Abolition- 
ists. As  preacher  and  pastor  of  the  "Old  Glade  Church"  at  Berea  he  followed 
John  Rankin  in  refusing  church  fellowship  to  slave-holders.  This  was  an 
oft  agitated  question  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  raised  by  the  Concord 
Church  near  Carlisle  in  1800,  in  evidence  of  the  powerful  Abolition  movement 
in  Kentucky  at  that  time.     Lane  Seminary  gave  Mr.   Fee   a   great  vision. 

1.  In  1787  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  declared  in  favor 
of  "universal  liberty"  in  America  and  approved  of  "the  abolition  of  slavery," 
but  recommended  the  gradual  emancipation  plan  of  education  and  preparation 
for    freedom. 

2.  In  1793  a  Quaker  Memorial  handed  to  the  Moderator  of  the  Assembly 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  occasioned  the  republication  of  the  Minute  of  the 
Synod  on  the  subject.  And  in  1795  a  question  came  up  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Transylvania  as  to  a  conscientious  Abolitionist  holding  Christian  com- 
munion with  slave-downers.  The  Assembly  answered  that  it  was  wise  and 
scriptural  "to  live  in  charity  and  peace"  with  such  persons,  but  expressed  the 
concern  and  conviction  of  the  Church  that  slavery  must  be  abolished.  On 
the    committee    was    Father    Rice    of    Kentucky. 

3.  In  the  Assembly  of  1815  slave-holding  and  the  slave  traffic  were  again 
disapproved  and  deplored.  The  Assembly  of  1816  favored  the  baptism  of 
slave-children,  and  in  1818  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  was  chairman  of  a  committee 
which  made  a  memorable  report  on  the  whole  subject  of  slavery;  and  this 
document  became  historic  as  an  Emancipation  utterance.  The  Assembly 
answered  a  Resolution  which  declared  that  a  man  who  sold  a  Christian 
slave  against  his  will  ought  to  be  refused  church  fellowship.  The  whole 
system  of  slavery  was  declared  utterly  contrary  to  the  gospel,  and  "th< 
total   abolition"    of   slavery    was    set   forth   as   an    ideal    to    be    attained. 

4.  In  1836  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  adopted  one  of  the  greatesl  Emancipa- 
tion reports  in  American  history,  written  for  a  Committee  of  Ten  by  President 
John    C    Young    of    Centre    College,    Danville. 


"Sidney  Payne  Clay,  our  oldest  brother,  who  had  been  educated  at  Princeton 
College,  New  Jersey,  and  had  returned  home,  was  an  Emancipationist  as  well  as 
Presbyterian.  By  my  father's  will  he  was  appointed  chief  executor.  As  was 
the  custom  in  all  the  Border  Slave  States,  Mary  was.  by  his  will,  ordered  to  be 
sent   South,    I   suppose   to    make   murder   odious.      Now    the    most    astonishing    fca- 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE   NEW  261 

turc  of  the  slave  system  was  the  delusion  that,  as  it  was  legal,  it  was  morally 
right;  whilst  all  the  sentiments  of  the  soul  and  the  force  of  the  mind  proclaimed 
it  wrong.  'For  the  greatest  of  all  rights,'  said  the  eloquent  Robert  J.  Breckin- 
ridge, 'is  the  right  of  a  man  to  himself.'  This  doctrine,  joined  to  some  passing 
remarks  in  the  Bible,  written  in  an  age  when  slavery  was  the  result  of  a  common 
barbarism,   confused   the  strongest  intellect   and   led   to   the   most   conflicting    results. 

"Never  shall  I  forget — and  through  all  these  years  it  rests  upon  the  memory 
as  the  stamp  upon  a  bright  coin — the  scene,  when  Mary  was  tied  by  the  wrists 
and  sent  from  home  and  friends,  and  the  loved  features  of  her  native  land — the 
home  of  her  infancy  and  girlish  days — into  Southern  banishment  forever:  and 
vet  held  guiltless  by  a  jury,   not  of  her   'peers,'   but  her  oppressors. 

"Never  shall  I  forget  those  two  faces — of  my  brother  and  Mary — the  oppres- 
sor and  the  oppressed,  rigid  with  equal  agony.  She  cast  an  imploring  look  at 
me,  as  if  in  appeal;  but  meekly  went,  without  a  word,  as  'a  sheep  to  the 
slaughter.' 

We  can  readily  imag'ne  the  maturing  convictions  of  this  powerful  Kentucky 
youth  as  an  undergraduate  in  Yale  College  some  years  after  the  tragedy  enacted 
under  his  burning  eyes  at  home.  Let  us  again  hear  his  own  impressive  recital: 
"There  were  quite  a  number  of  Southerners  then  in  Yale;  so  I  soon  felt  at 
home,  and  entered  upon  my  studies  with  good  heart.  I  joined  one  of  the  col- 
lege societies,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  debates;  but  as  I  soon  entered  upon 
an  exciting  political  career,  I  do  not  now  remember  to  what  society  I  did  or  do 
now  belong.      I  believe  it  was  the  Alpha  Beta   Phi. 

"President  Day  was  silent,  dignified,  and  amiable.  He  never  said  anything, 
but  we  all  loved  him.  All  the  other  professors  had  their  admirers  and  their 
critics.  Benjamin  Silliman,  the  chief  figure,  was  then  in  the  height  of  his  emi- 
nence as  a  chemist,  and  inventor,  and  experimentor,  in  all  the  civilized  world; 
of  large  stature  and  of  large  brain,  and  'as  happy  as  a  big  sunflower;'  full  of 
vanity,  but  of  that  pleasant  sort  which,  running  over,  allows  his  friends  to 
share  the  intoxicating   fluid;    and  so   he,    too,   had   no   enemies 

"The  Rev.  Leonard  Bacon  was  then  the  leading  preacher  in  the  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Yale,  a  cold,  technical,  dogmatic  Puritan.  He  was 
always  an  uncompromising  defender  of  slavery;  bolstering  it  up,  when  it  could 
only  take  a  stand  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  after  it  had  been  driven  for  centuries 
from  the  hearts  of  all  true  Christians.  Perhaps  he  found  it  his  interest  to  be 
on  the  winning  side  for  the  Union  when  he  saw  it  was  inevitable,  and  that 
slavery  and  all  its  defenders  would  go  down.  But  I  pass  the  learned  doctor 
to  consider  a  character  worthy   the  admiration   and   gratitude  of  all   mankind. 

"One  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  ante-bellum  times  was  the  isolation  of  thought 
between  the  Liberals  of  the  South  and  the  North.  Such  was  the  policy  of  the 
South.  So.  when  I  entered  Yale,  with  my  soul  full  of  hatred  to  slavery,  I  had 
never  known  anything  of  Garrison  or  his  history.  Soon  after  I  entered  college 
before  I  had  noted  the  situation,  it  was  announced  that  Garrison  was  going  to 
speak  in  the  South  Church  that  night — rthe  church,  at  least,  nearest  the  south 
of   the  city,    and,    I    think,    so   called. 

CASSIUS  CLAY  AND  WM.  LLOYD  GARRISON 

'Who    is    Garrison?'    I    asked.       'Why,    Garrison    is    the    Abolitionist.       Don't 
you   know?      So,   as   I   had   never  heard   an   Abolitionist,    nor   the   name   hardly,    I 


26  2  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

went  to  hear  Garrison.  Every  accessible  place  was  crowded;  so  I  pressed  on 
determinedly  to  the  front,  so  far  as  to  see  and  hear  him  fully.  In  plain,  logical, 
and  sententious  language  he  treated  the  'Divine  Institution'  so  as  to  burn  like 
a  branding-iron   into  the  most  callous  hide  of  the  slave-holder  and  his  defenders. 

"This  was  a  new  revelation  to  me.  I  felt  all  the  horrors  of  slavery;  but  rav 
parents  were  slave-holders;  all  my  known  kindred  in  Kentucky  were  slave-holders: 
and  I  regarded  it  as  I  did  other  evils  of  humanity,  as  the  fixed  laws  of  Nature 
and  of  God,  and  submitted  as  best  I  might.  But  Garrison  dragged  out  the 
monster  from  ail  his  citadels,  and  left  him  stabbed  to  the  vitals,  and  dying  at 
the  feet   of  every   logical   and   honest   mind. 

"As  water  to  a  thirsty  wayfarer,  were  to  me  Garrison's  arguments  and  senti- 
ments. He  was  often  and  boisterously  hissed;  but  I  stood  silent  and  thoughtful 
in  the  depths  of  my  new  thought.  Another  meeting  of  the  citizens  was  called 
for  the  next  night,  to  answer  Garrison.  I  do  not  now  remember  who  were  the 
orators;  but  the  'Liberal'  Dr.  Bacon  ought  to  have  been,  if  he  was  not,  the  man 
to  answer  such  broad  logic  of  truth,  and  justice,  and%  religion,  and  humanity; 
for  he  had  that  temperament  and  technical  training  which  best  fitted  him  to  make 
the   worse   appear   the   better   cause. 

"I  once  more  got  a  good  place  to  hear;  and.  as  sophism  after  sophism  and 
false  conclusions  from  false  assumptions  followed,  in  chain-like  succession,  they 
were  greeted  with  thundering  applause.  This  aroused  me  from  my  apathy.  I  felt 
the  greatest  indignation.  I  never,  in  all  my  life,  was  so  agitated  in  a  public 
assemblage.  I  first  thought  I  would  interrupt  him.  and  deny  his  assumptions  of 
fact;  then  I  concluded  to  answer  him  in  order;  and  was  preparing  to  do  so. 
when  another  sprang  up,  and  gave  me  time  to  reflect,  that  I  had  come  to  Yale 
to  learn,  and  not  to  teach.  So  I  returned  to  my  room  as  full  of  tumultuous 
emotions  as  on  the  night  before.  I  then  resolved,  however,  that  when  I  had 
the   strength,    if  ever,    I    would   give   slavery   a   death   struggle." 

This  social  awakening  to  the  iniquity  of  the  slave  system  was  very  closely 
allied  to  his  religious  awakening.  Being  chosen  as  the  class  orator  of  the  Seniors 
for  the  Washington's  Birthday  celebration,  he  made  a  ringing  Anti-Slavery  address. 
All  his  family  except  his  brother  Brutus  and  he  were  connected  with  some  church. 
And  he  not  only  had  the  satisfaction  of  making  this  dedication  of  himself  to 
the  Abolition  cause  in  the  presence  of  all  that  impressive  throng  of  friends  and 
loved  ones,  but  he  adds:  "So  the  good  seed  which  Garrison  had  watered,  and 
which  my  own   bitter  experience  had  sown,   aroused  my   whole  soul." 

During  a  revival  in  his  Senior  year  at  Yale  Cassius  Clay  professed  his  faith 
and  was  baptized  by  immersion  in  New  Haven  Sound.  His  mother  was  a  Cal- 
vinistic  Baptist,  but,  remembering  the  pro-slavery  logic  of  the  Reverend  Leonard 
Bacon,  he  turned  his  back  on  the  upper-class  Christians  and  sought  out  what  he 
called  "a  common-place  Baptist  preacher,  and  was  baptized  in  the  sea.  and  received 
into  his  church."  Upon  his  return  home  he  did  a  lot  of  general  reading  on 
religious  history,  evidences,  and  the  like,  and  became  so  unsettled  in  his  faith 
that  he  had  his  name  stricken  from  the  rolls  of  the  little  church  back  in  New 
England.  But  what  gave  his  soul  its  shock  was  "the  fruits  of  Bacon's  theology," 
as  he  termed  it,  "which  I  had  seen  in  the  Old  South  Church;  for  I  saw  all 
around  me  the  whole  clergy,  with  the  exception  of  John  G.  Fee  (now  of  Berea 
College,  Madison  County,  Kentucky),  standing  for  slavery  as  a  'divine  institu- 
tion.'     I  had  no  fellowship  with  men  with  such  a  creed;    and  I   preferred,   if  God 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW 


263 


was  on  that  side,  to  stand  with  the  Devil  rather;  for  he  was  silent  at  least.  So, 
if  I  said  and  wrote  hard  things  against  the  Scriptures,  and  especially  the  preachers, 
it  was  because  they  were  the  false  prophets  which  it  was  necessary  to  destroy 
with   slavery." 


REV.    JOHN    C.    YOUNG,    D.    D. 

Successor  of  Dr.  Gideon  Blac/kburn  as  President  of  Centre  College  in  1830. 
Author  of  a  masterly  and  noble  Paper  and  Plan  for  Gradual  Emancipation, 
prepared  by  a  Committee  of  Ten  for  the  Kentucky  Synod  in  1S35.  The 
historian  of  Berea  College  speaks  of  this  paper  as  "one  of  the  cleanest, 
strongest,  and  wisest  deliverances  on  slavery  ever  made;"  and  says  that  this 
an,ti-slavery  movement  and  memorial  gave  a  powerful  impetus  to  the  "Birth 
of  Berea  College." 

Dr.  John  C.  Young-  was  in  some  respects  a  more  gifted  and  national 
character  than  Dr.  John  Finley  Crowe.  Dr.  Young-  was  a  native  of  Green- 
castle,  Pa.,  August  12,  1830.  His  father  Avas  an  Associate  Reformed  Church 
pastor,  and  John  C.  was  educated  at  Columbia  and  Dickinson  Colleges.  In 
1823  he  refused  the  most  tempting  offers  in  law  from  his  uncle,  who  was 
Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Washington  City.  Instead  he 
studied  for  the  ministry  at  Princeton  with  Drs.  Hodge,  Dod,  and  the  Alex- 
anders. Licensed  to  preach  in  the  year  1827,  he  traveled  through  several 
large  Eastern  cities  and  declined  tempting  pastoral  locations.  He  then  set 
out  for  the  Ohio  Valley  and  visited  Kentucky.  In  1828  he  accepted  a  call  to 
the  McChord  Presbyterian  Church  in  Lexington.  He  was  such  an  eloquent 
and  brilliant  pulpit  orator  and  personality  that  his  choice  as  successor  to 
Dr.  Bladkburn  over  Centre  College  was  unanimous.  Princeton  gave  him  the 
highest  praise  and  for  nearly  27  years  he  was  one  of  the  great  educators 
of  youth  in  America.  He  was  also  pastor  in  Danville  till  his  death,  June 
23,     1857. 

As  Moderator  of  the  Old  School  General  Assembly  at  Philadelphia  in  1853 
he  attracted  international  attention  of  Old  World  Presbyterians  by  his  match- 
less eloquence  and  gracious  personality.  Dr.  Young's  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  Senator  John  J.  Crittenden,  and  his  son,  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Young,  D.  D.,  became 
the  successor  of  his  revered  father  in  Centre  College  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Born  in  Daniville  in  1842;  educated  at  Centre  College  and  the  Dan- 
ville Seminary,  he  was  pastor  at  Covington  1862-'70;  First  Church,  Madison, 
Ind.,  1870-'72;  Chicago,  1872-'79;  Louisville,  1879-'88,  when  he  was  chosen 
President  iof  "Old  Centre."  His  inauguration  in  1889  at  the  70th  anniversary 
of  the  College  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  occasions  and  gatherings  of 
notable    men    in    the    history    of    Kentucky. 

In  May,  1892,  the  General  Assembly  met  in  Portland,  Oregon,  and  Dr. 
Young  was  chosen  Moderator — the  first  man  South  of  Mason  and  Dixon  Line 
since  the  Civil  War.  He  not  only  made  an  epochal  presiding  officer  in  the 
conciliatory  and  graciious  spirit  of  his  service  to  the  Church,  but  his  sermon 
as  retiring  Moderator/  at  Washington  City,  in  1893,  gave  an  impetus  to  faith 
and  fellowship  throughout  all  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  o,f  America 
and  the  world  that  will  never  he  forgotten.  Dr.  Young  measured  upi  to  the 
great  fame  of  his  noble  father,  as  a  Leader  of  Truth  and  Peace-maker  of 
the    highest    order. 


264  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


BEGINNINGS  OF  BEREA  COLLEGE 

The  abiding  monument  of  the  Abolition  Movement  in  the  mountains  of 
Eastern  Kentucky  is  Berea  College.  General  Clay  tells  the  story  of  its  origin 
after  he  became  the  mighty  leader  of  Abolition  in  his  native  State  back  in  the 
years  before  the  Civil  War:  "When  I  converted  mechanics,  tenants,  and  laborers 
to  my  liberal  views,  the  Slave-Power  either  bull-dozed  them,  or  starved  them  into 
emigration  to  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  the  West.  So  I  set  about  finding  a  remedy 
for  this  exhausting  evil.  I  saw  that  a  large  portion  of  the  State  was  mountain- 
ous, where  there  were  but  few  slaves,  and  the  people  courageous;  so  that,  if 
they  were  once  committed  to  liberation  of  the  slaves,  we  could  have  a  permanent 
nucleus  of  political  and  physical  force 

"I  owned  a  considerable  tract  of  land  at  the  'Glade,'  in  Madison  County — 
the  present  site  of  Berea — and  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Kentucky.  I  had 
already  given  Hamilton  Rawlings  a  tract  of  land,  worth  about  one  thousand 
dollars.  He  had  been  my  ardent  and  intelligent  friend  for  years,  and  had  at  once 
adopted   my  liberal   views. 

"When  John  G.  Fee,  a  native  of  Bracken  County,  and  a  preacher  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  stood  openly  on  our  side,  his  father,  a  slave-holder  and 
churchman,  was  alienated  from  him,  and  ultimately  disinherited  him.  I  saw  in 
Fee's  heroic  and  pious  character  a  fit  man  for  the  service  I  projected.  So  I  wrote 
him  to  come  on  to  Madison  and  help  us.  This  he  did,  bringing  with  him  his 
intelligent  wife,  a  Miss  Hamilton,  the  daughter  of  a  plain  and  sensible  farmer 
of  the  same  county.      I    remember  also  her  sister  Laura   as   a   fine   woman. 

"I  gave  my  friend  a  small  lot  of  land — as  much  as  he  wanted  for  his  pro- 
fession— as  a  homestead,  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  town  of  Berea;  and  a 
small  tract  for  the  church  and  school,  when  it  became  practical  to  move  in  that 
direction.  I  also  sold  several  lots  of  land  at  nominal  prices  to  our  most  courage- 
ous friends  for  self-protection." 

Looking  back  in  historic  retrospect  to  this  foundation  of  human  freedom. 
General  Clay  said:  "I  can  say  at  least  that  'we  builded  better  than  we  knew.' 
It  served  a  great  purpose  in  my  political  career;  but  I  had  not  then  anticipated 
its  present  growth,  and  the  co-education  of  blacks  and  whites,  males  and  females, 
for  liberation  itself  was  then  too  uncertain  for  such  project.  The  honor  of  this 
last  patriotic  and  Christian  work  belongs  to  John  G.  Fee  alone.  The  political 
differences  of  opinion  between  us  is  fully  set  forth  in  these  volumes  (of  auto- 
biography)— so    that    all    the    world    may    judge    us. 

"He  has  always  been  free  to  criticise  my  course,  but  my  friendship  for  him 
has  never  abated.  Any  other  man  saying  what  he  has  at  times  said  of  me  would 
have  brought  on  him  my  greatest  indignation.  But  as  I  know  his  sincerity 
of  purpose,  and  his  idiosyncracies  of  thought,  I  have  not  believed  it  necessary 
to  defend  myself. 

"At  the  late  commencement  at  Berea.  where  several  distinguished  strangers — 
among  others  Roswell  Smith  of  the  Century  Company — were  present.  I  took 
occasion  to  refer  to  the  higher  law  of  controversy.  I  hold  and  have  held  from 
the  beginning,  that  there  is  an  inborn  sentiment  of  justice  and  humanity  which 
is  the  base  of  all  human  laws,  and  to  which  they  should  be  conformed;  that 
the  existence  of  slavery,  though  sanctioned  by  constitutions  and  laws,  was  in 
opposition  to  that  higher  law,  and  that  it  should  be  abolished — not  by  indirec- 
tion, or  slave-escaping,  or  by  armed  assault  upon  the  master,  but  by  free  dis- 
cussion  and   the  ballot — to   peacably   conform    them   to   the  higher   law." 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE    NEW  265 

REV.  JOHN  G.  FEE 

The  character  sketch  of  Rev.  John  G.  Fee  as  drawn  by  General  Clay  is  an 
impressive  one:  "As  I  have  known  Fee  long,  and  perhaps  better  than  most  men, 
it  may  be  interesting  to  mv  readers  to  hear  something  more  of  the  man.  who  has 
made  so  large  a  figure  in  the  world.  He  is  a  classical  scholar.  In  person  rather 
below  medium  size,  slender,  with  a  head  large  in  proportion  to  a  rather  deli- 
cate body.  His  features  are  not  remarkable,  being  rather  heavy  than  classical: 
hair  once  auburn,  and  skin  fair  but  tanned.  His  expression  is  rather  sad  and 
earnest:  but.  when  pleased,  his  face  lights  up  into  a  very  agreeable  and  sympa- 
thetic  animation. 

"His  voice,  like  Horace  Greeley's,  is  piping,  but  with  little  inflection  or  com- 
pass; so  that  he  is  a  better  writer  than  speaker,  as  his  style  is  concise,  terse,  and 
earnest.  His  mind  concentrates  upon  one  truth,  the  subject  at  issue;  but  he 
lacks  generalization,  and  he  can  hardly  be  deemed  an  eminent  thinker.  With 
such  singleness  of  purpose  and  unselfish  philanthropy,  he  cannot  fail  to  have  a 
touch  of  fanaticism,  and  consequent  bigotry;  but  it  is  not  of  the  ascetic  kind, 
but  full  of  tender  passion  and  Christian  love,  when  his  ideas  of  right  do  not 
prevent.  On  the  whole,  he  is  the  first  great  figure  in  the  Southern  Church, 
in  the  great  struggle  for  Liberation.  His  work  in  Berea  is  fruitful  of  great  good 
to  the  races;    and  the  college  is  based  on   true  ideas,   and  must  live." 

In  the  History  of  Berea  College,  published  fifty  years  ago  by  the  Prudential 
Committee  of  the  institution,  we  find  a  most  illuminating  account  of  Mr.  Fee's 
early  life,  his  conversion,  his  social  awakening,  and  his  dedication  of  himself 
unreservedly  to  the  sacred  cause  of  human  freedom  and  uplift.  The  story  of  this 
heroic  man  and  his  great  work  is  hardly  known  to  one  in  ten  thousand,  and 
yet  no  more  typical  and  impressive  example  and  experience  exists  in  the  history 
of  the  past  hundred  years  right  here  in  our  own  home  land. 

"Rev.  John  G.  Fee,"  says  this  account,  "was  born  in  Bracken  County,  Ken- 
tucky, in  1816.  His  father,  a  farmer,  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  the  owner  of  thirteen  slaves.  John  early  embraced  religion,  and  commenced 
preparation  for  the  ministry.  He  entered  college  at  Augusta,  Kentucky,  studied 
two  years  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  graduated  at  Augusta.  His  theological  course 
was  taken  at  Lane  Seminary,  Ohio;  where,  after  much  discussion,  with  earnest 
prayer  for  Tight,  terrible  mental  struggles  and  many  tears,  he  became  convinced 
of  the  great  evil  and  sinfulness  of  American  Slavery.  With  a  full  sense  of  the 
obloquy  and  danger  he  must  meet,  he  consecrated  himself  to  preach  the  gospel 
of   impartial    love    in    his    native    State." 

This  social  awakening,  which  was  part  and  parcel  of  his  spiritual  vision,  as 
in  the  case  of  John  Finley  Crowe,  of  Hanover  College,  became  the  motive  power 
of  his  entire  life  and  work.  Surely  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  had  no  more  devout 
disciple  than  this  man.  "He  first  labored  several  months  with  his  parents;  but 
failing  to  persuade  them  to  liberate  their  slaves,  with  great  sadness  he  relinquished 
the  effort,  and  carried  the  gospel  to  others.  His  father,  a  severe  man,  disowned 
and  disinherited  him.  giving  him  one  dollar  in  his  will.  His  mother  wept  over 
her  deluded  son.  He  continued  to  visit  his  parents,  though  twice  the  door  was 
shut  against  him.  Afterward  he  was  invited  in.  Learning  that  his  father  was 
about  to  sell  a  female  slave,  wife  of  a  slave  man  of  the  family,  and  a  member 
of  the  same  church  with  her  master,  he  bought  her  at  the  price  demanded,  and 
liberated   her.      His   father   was   very    angry   because   he   would   not   sell   her   back. 


266  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


"Before  he  became  an  Abolitionist  his  father  had  given  him  a  farm,  in  Indi- 
ana, which  he  sold  for  two  thousand  four  hundred  dollars,  and  spent  the  whole 
in  buying  this  slave,  in  publishing  an  anti-slavery  manual,  and  in  self-support. 
His  people,  in  Lewis  county,  promised  him  one  hundred  dollars  for  preaching, 
but  being  offended  by  an  anti-slavery  sermon,  very  mild  and  gentle,  paid  him 
but  twenty- five  dollars.  For  two  years  he  received  two  hundred  dollars  annually 
from  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society.  But  finding  that  this  society 
was  aiding  fifty-two  slave-holding  churches,  he  felt  that  he  could  not  conscien- 
tiously solicit  contributions  for  it,   and  hence  must  decline   to  receive  its  support." 

You  have  here  the  martyr  type,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  read  further: 
"On  joining  the  Presbytery  he  made  a  full  statement  of  his  anti-slavery  convic- 
tions. As  these  convictions  ripened,  his  anti-slavery  efforts  multiplied.  His 
church,  in  Lewis  County,  passed  resolutions  denouncing  slavery  as  sinful,  and 
refusing  fellowship  with  slave-holders.  The  Synod  reviewed  this  action,  and 
censured  Mr.  Fee  for  disturbing  the  peace  of  Zion,  and  introducing  a  test  of 
membership  to  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Assured  by  the 
Presbytery  that  'repentance  on  their  part  was  hopeless.'  after  fully  stating  his 
views,    he   withdrew,    and   received    a    qualified   letter   of   dismission. 

"The  publication  of  these  facts  in  the  New  York  Evangelist  brought  him 
to  the  notice  of  the  American  Missionarv  Association,  and  its  aid  was  offered 
him.  From  that  time  to  this,  a  period  of  twenty-six  years,  he  has  been  sup- 
ported   wholly    or    chiefly    by    that    society. 

"In  Lewis  and  Bracken  counties  he  labored  eight  years,  and  organized  three 
anti-slavery  churches.  At  the  request  of  Cassius  M.  Clay  he  sent  a  box  of  the 
anti-slavery  manuals,  which  were  scattered  through  Madison  county.  The  result 
was  the  people  invited  him  here  (to  Berea)  where,  after  preaching  nine  sermons, 
he  organized  a  church  which  refused  fellowship  with  slave-holders,  and  after  one 
year  he  became  its  pastor.  This  relation  he  has  now  sustained  twenty  years 
(1855-1875).  There  was  little  to  encourage  when  he  came.  The  place  was  a 
wilderness.      It   was   inviting   chiefly   because   it   was   central. 

"The  same  reason  which  led  to  the  organization  of  anti-slavery  churches 
demanded  an  anti-slavery  school.  This  was  organized  in  1855.  Its  first 
teacher  was  William  E.  Lincoln,  who  came  from  England  to  pursue  his  studies 
in  Oberlin  College.  He  was  one  of  the  Wellington  rescuers,  and  has  since  been 
a  preacher  in  Ohio,  and  is  now  (1876)  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Its  next 
teacher  was  Otis  B.  Waters,  also  a  student  of  Oberlin  College.  He  has  for  sev- 
eral  years  been   a  professor  in   Benzonia   College.    Michigan. 

"In  1856  Mr.  Fee  experienced  a  series  of  mobs  in  this  region.  He  had  before 
this  been  mobbed  in  Lewis.  Mason  and  Bracken  counties.  The  first  of  this 
series  was  at  Dripping  Springs,  the  next  near  Mr.  Vernon,  the  third,  and  most 
violent,    was   near   Texas,    in   Madison   county  " 

The  story  of  these  mobbings  is  a  thrilling  one.  a  revelation  of  the  direful 
situations  in  which  this  man  of  conviction  and  courage  found  himself,  and  yet 
how  supremely  he  sustained  his  purpose  to  witness  for  the  truth  as  he  saw  it. 
He  did  not  go  armed,  nor  did  he  make  rcsistcncc  to  his  persecutors,  as  did 
Cassius  M.  Clay.  He  justified  General  Clay  in  defending  himself  in  the  exercise 
of  the  right  of  free  speech;  but  General  Clay  did  not  deem  it  wise  or  expedient 
or  necessary  to  take  the  extreme  Abolition  attitude  in  the  midst  of  a  slave-holding 
community.  He  thought  this  brought  exile  upon  Mr.  Fee:  but  every  man  to 
his  own  convictions;  and  these  two  great  Forerunners  of  Lincoln  in  our  home 
State    have    no    possible    superior. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII 


ONE  OF  THE  most  famous  and  historic  documents  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America  was  "The  Declaration  and  Testimony,"  written 
by  the  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  D.  D-,  of  Louisville,  under  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  peril  and  stress.  This  celebrated  deliverance  sub- 
jected its  noted  author  to  a  cross-fire  of  hostile  and  terrific  criticism  at  the  time, 
occupying  as  he  did  a  rather  neutral  and  strategic  position  between  the  two 
extremes  of  North  and  South.  But  the  occasion  was  a  crucial  one.  and  in  the 
uttermost  sincerity  and  with  unflinching  courage,  Dr.  Wilson  and  the  strong 
men  of  God  associated  with  him  gave  utterance  to  the  principles  and  sentiments 
animating  them  and  left  to  after  generations  the  decision  as  to  whether  they  were 
right  or  wrong.  When  the  passions  and  animosities  of  the  hour  had  somewhat 
subsided  Dr.  W'ilson  left  on  record  his  own  careful  account  of  the  circumstances 
and  incidents  referred   to;    and   from   this  account  our  own   is  derived. 


AFTER   LINCOLN'S   ASSASSINATION 

"In  April.  1865.  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  then  undivided,  met  in  the  City 
of  Louisville,  just  after  the  fall  of  Richmond,  and  at  the  moment  when  the 
country  was  in  an  intense  state  of  excitement  by  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln.  Various  acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  from  the  adoption  of  the  Spring 
Resolutions  in  1861,  down  through  several  years  of  ecclessiastical  and  civil  strife, 
had  produced  such  a  state  of  conviction  and  feeling  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Kentucky  that  some  of  the  Presbyteries  had  almost  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  would  not,  until  things  were  more  quiet,  send  representatives  to  that 
body. 

"Such  was  the  prevailing  feeling  and  sentiment  on  this  subject  in  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  of  which  I  had  onlv  been  for  a  short  time  a  member. 
During  the  sessions  of  that  body  at  the  above  date,  in  the  city  of  Louisville, 
brethren  came  to  me  and  said  in  substance,  'If  you  will  go  to  the  coming 
Assembly  at  Pittsburgh,  we  will  appoint  you  as  our  representative,  but  otherwise 
we    will    decline    to    appoint    anyone.' 

Dr.  Wilson  replied  that  if  they  would  appoint  him  and  leave  it  to  his  discre- 
tion to  go  or  not,  well  and  good.  They  so  assented.  Then  a  letter  from  the 
Rev.  Stuart  Robinson,  D.  D.,  was  received  by  Dr.  Wilson  under  date  of  May 
6,  1865,  saying  that  now  was  the  time  to  put  on  record  a  protest  to  future 
Assemblies,  which,  if  disregarded,  would  justify  the  withdrawal  of  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky"  from  the  Church.  He  urged  Dr.  Wilson  to  go  to  the  Pittsburgh 
Assembly    despite    attack    and    abuse. 


268 


THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


AT  THE  PITTSBURGH  ASSEMBLY 

Accordingly,  Dr.  Wilson  went  to  the  Assembly.  He  said  that  it  had  been 
threatened  before  he  went  that  if  he  appeared  he  would  not  be  seated.  This  was 
the  Assembly  that  adopted   the   "Pittsburgh   Ordinances." 

"These  I  opposed,"  says  Dr.  Wilson,  "to  the  uttermost  of  my  ability,  earn- 
estly pleading  that  if  the  Assembly  could  not  at  that  moment  hold  out  the  olive 
branch  to  those  brethren  who  had  gone  away  from  the  Old  Church  under  the 
excitement  of  a  great  revolution,  they  would  at  least  say  nothing,  and  do  noth- 
ing, but  allow  a  year  to  pass  for  the  quieting  of  passion  and  the  exercise  of  a 
calm   judgment   and   mature   reflection." 


Renr.  Stuart  Robinson.  D.  D.,  of  Louisville.  One  of  the 
greatest  Southern  preachers  and  signers  of  "The  Declara- 
tion." 


Upon  the  floor  of  the  Assembly  Dr.  Wilson  said:  "My  brother  (Dr.  Lord) 
has  said  that  we  from  Kentucky  are  not  capable  of  judging  in  such  a  question 
as  this,  because  of  our  sympathies.  And  if  our  sympathies,  who  come  from  a 
State  where  brothers  and  sons  and  fathers  have  fallen  upon  the  same  bloody  field 
in  fratricidal  strife,  incapacitate  us  from  judging  in  this  matter,  how.  sir.  arc 
brethren  who  come  from  other  scenes  of  horror  and  sadness,  with  their  sympa- 
thies,   any   more   capable   of  judging? 

"The  sentiment  of  the  brother  is  founded  in  an  utter  fallacy,  which  would 
dehumanize  a  man  as  a  condition  of  his  being  able  to  judge  respecting  the  prin- 
ciples of  justice  and  the  claims  of  humanity.  For  my  own  part,  as  much  as  in 
me  lies,  I  have  from  the  beginning  of  this  sad  conflict  aimed  to  rise  above  the 
fierce  passions  raging  around  me,  and  to  avoid  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of 
peace,  being  so  indentified  with  cither  of  the  contending  parties  as  would  pre- 
clude my  ministering  to  the  souls  of  cither  in  the  consolations  of  that  gospel. 
And  it  has  been  my  mournful  privilege  to  sit  by  the  side  of  mothers  whose  sons 
had  fallen  upon  the  same  battlefield  as  focmen.  and  to  speak  words  of  comfort 
to  them   both   from   the  same  blessed   Bible. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  269 

"I  am  loyal  to  my  country  and  I  am  loyal  to  Christ;  and  it  is  because  I  am 
so  that  I  am  standing  up  here  to  speak  thus  in  the  presence  of  this  venerable 
Assembly.  It  is  because  I  am  thus  loyal  that  I  now  entreat  them  to  pause,  con- 
sider well  what  they  are  about  to  do;  to  stop  before  they  take  a  step  full  of  con- 
sequences so  far-reaching  and  so  full  of  peril.  Brethren,  take  not  this  fatal 
plunge." 

It  seems  that  in  one  sense  Dr.  Wilson  stood  alone  before  that  Assembly,  under 
circumstances  and  dangers  and  difficulties  not  easy  for  us  to  imagine  now.  Yet 
some  six  or  seven  others  fearlessly  stood  with  him,  "and  uttered  their  entreaties 
and  their  protests  against  what  seemed  to  us  all" — quoting  Dr.  Wilson — "to  be 
the  giving  way  of  the  still  venerable  and  beloved  Assembly  of  our  Church  to  the 
most  unrestrained  outbursts  of  passion  against  an  erring  and  now  prostrate 
people.  And  others  there  were  who,  though  their  voices  were  hushed  under  the 
terror  of  the  hour,   yet  in   their  judgments  and   their  hearts  approved   our  course." 

CONFERENCE  OF  BORDER  STATE  MEN 

The  church  of  Dr.  Wilson  at  Louisville  was  seized  by  the  military  on  his 
return  home.  A  letter  came  from  the  Rev.  James  H.  Brookes,  D.  D.,  of  St. 
Louis,  June  5,  1865,  urging  some  form  of  action  as  a  protest.  Dr.  Wilson 
advised  as  to  what  should  be  done,  "wisely  and  without  haste."  to  wait  till  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  was  known  throughout  the  Church  and  discussion  of  its 
nature   and    tendencies   should    get    under   way. 

Dr.  Brookes  replied,  under  date  of  June  14,  1865,  that  there  must  be  many 
in  the  Northern  branch  of  the  Church  who  deplored  and  looked  with  dismay 
upon  the  Assembly's  action;  and  advised  that  a  circular  letter  should  be  sent, 
feeling  them  out.  On  June  16,  1865,  Dr.  Brookes  sent  Dr.  Wilson  another 
letter  proposing  to  meet  him  in  Cincinnati  and  go  on  to  Brooklyn  together.  He 
wanted  two  or  three  discreet  Kentucky  men,  if  Dr.  Wilson  could  not  go.  The 
proposition  was  to  meet  in  the  pastoral  study  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Jackson  Van 
Dyke,  D.  D..  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Brooklyn,  who  was  known  to  be 
seriously   and   earnestly   contemplating   this   same   momentous   problem. 

There  was  not  time  to  lose  or  to  postpone  action;  and  Dr.  Wilson  met  Dr. 
Brookes,  as  agreed,  and  they  journeyed  to  New  York  together.  On  June  29 
and  30.  1865,  the  meeting  took  place  in  Dr.  Van  Dyke's  study  in  Brooklyn. 
Those  present  were  Dr.  Van  Dyke,  Dr.  Brookes,  Dr.  Wilson,  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Lee, 
of  Brooklyn,  and  Mr.  Edward  Bredell,  of  St.  Louis.  Other  brethren  were  asked 
but   failed   to   appear. 

MEETING  IN  DR.  VAN  DYKE'S  STUDY 

Dr.  Van  Dyke  sat  at  his  table  and  noted  down  the  points  made  against  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  and  which  seemed  imperative  to  be  framed  into  a  "Dec- 
laration and  Testimony."  Dr.  Wilson  kept  these  notes  and  points  and  the  main 
content  was  embodied  by  him  in  the  document  when  it  was  produced.  The  con- 
ference adjourned  to  meet  in  the  study  of  Rev-  W.  A.  Scott,  D.  D..  of  New 
York  City.  Dr.  Van  Dvkc  was  not  present  at  this  next  meeting.  Those  pres- 
e-t  were.  Dr.  Scott,  Dr.  Brookes,  Dr.  Wilson,  Rev.  Mr.  Lee.  Mr.  Bredell.  Mr. 
Cyrus  McCormick.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  L.  Rice  was  invited  but  did  not 
appear. 


270 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


At  this  next  conference  all  were  agreed  together  as  to  the  purport  of  the 
deliverance,  but  there  was  discussion  as  to  the  timeliness  and  by  whom  it  should 
be  drafted.  Dr.  Wilson  insisted  upon  an  Eastern  man:  but  Dr.  Scott  declined 
when  he  was  suggested.  They  all  then  with  one  accord  designated  Dr.  Wilson- 
He  agreed  to  consider  the  matter  prayerfully;  and  upon  his  return  home  to 
Louisville  spent  several  nights  and  days  putting  together  the  "Declaration  and 
Testimony." 


Old  First  Presbyterian  Church.  Louisville,  whose  pastors, 
Rev.  Samuel  Et.  Wilson,  D.  D..  and  Rev.  Stuart  Robinson, 
D.  D.,  were  such  stalwart  defenders  of  "The  Declaration  and 
Testimony."  Pastored  now  by  the  Rev.  Edgar  C.  Lucas. 
D.    D. 


DR.    WILSON    FACES    DR.    BRECKINRIDGE 

Dr.  Wilson  was  on  record  in  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  in  1861  against 
political  action  and  deliverances  by  that  body  in  the  crisis  of  war.  In  due  season 
upon  the  floor  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  he  met  Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge, 
his  most  powerful  antagonist,  in  debate  over  this  same  "Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony."     He  defended   its  advocates  with   masterly   and  eloquent   reasoning: 

"These  witnesses  were  actuated  by  the  purest  love  to  the  principles  of  what 
they    conscientiously    understood    as    being    true,     free,    scriptural    Prcsbyterianism: 


THE    OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW 


271 


and  were  devoted  still  more  sincerely  to  what  they  regarded  the  highest  interests 
of  the  Church  of  their  fathers,  and  were  actuated  by  no  designing  schism,  but 
an  earnest  desire  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  Church  upon  the  basis  of  a  scrip- 
tural  and   constitutional   purity." 

Continuing,  Dr.  Wilson  said:  "They  were  earnestly  and  prayerfully,  and 
at  great  sacrifice  both  of  personal  feeling  and  comfort,  endeavoring  to  bring  back 
the  Church  to  what  they  regarded  as  the  basis  upon  which  she  had  been  founded 
and  built  up;  and  they  also  hoped  to  reclaim  that  portion  of  the  Church  in  the 
South  which  had  gone  away  in  a  similar  manner  from  the  same  scriptural  founda- 
tion. 


Madison  (Indiana)  Presbyterian  Church.  A  church  of 
famous  pastors  and  notable  men  and  women  organized  in 
1815.  Went  with  the  Old  School  Assembly  in  the  division 
of  1837-8.  Once  pastored  by  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  D.  D. 
Now  reunited  with  the  Second  Church  (formerly  New 
School)  under  the  splendid  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Jesse  M. 
Tidball,    D.   D. 


"It  was  not  a  question  which  came  into  the  minds  of  the  originators  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  with  whom  they  were  in  'affinity,'  whether  weak, 
or  strong,  but  simply  who,  in  all  their  Church,  whether  North  or  South.  East 
or  West,  were  one  with  them  in  their  convictions  concerning  the  priceless  views 
of  those  principles  to  which  they  were  bearing  their  testimony.  Toward  all 
such  they  held  out  the  right  hand  of  true  fellowship,  and  with  all  such  their 
affinity  was  as  strong  as  their  love  of  Christ  and  His  Church  could  possibly 
make  it. 

"Standing  as  they  did  in  connection  with  the  Old  Church,  and  occupying, 
most    of    them,    a    position    between    the    Northern    and    Southern    sections    of    the 


272  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

country,  they  felt  that  God  had  laid  upon  them  the  special  duty,  and  assigned 
to  them  the  high  privilege  of  being  mediators  and  peace-makers  between  those 
who,  holding  a  like  precious  faith,  had  been  alienated  for  a  time  by  unnatural 
but  almost  irresistible  causes." 

ACTION   OF   THE   KENTUCKY   SYNOD 

We  learn  from  Dr.  Wilson's  account  that  at  first  those  who  were  invited  in  this 
Testimony  agreed  to  stand  in  their  lot  as  independent  bodies  until  the  way  opened 
for  "the  reuniting  of  Presbyterians  both  North  and  South  on  the  basis  of  the 
old  constitution."  In  this  will  be  found  the  reason  why,  when  some  who  had 
united  in  the  Testimony  were  urging  the  precipitate  union  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky with  the  Southern  Assembly,  "there  were  those,  and  prominently  among 
them  the  author  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  who  endeavored  to  stay 
that  movement  and  earnestly  desired  that  it  should  not  be  effected,  for  the  sake 
of  preserving   unobscured   the   light   of   their   testimony." 

When,  however,  it  appeared  useless  and  only  calculated  to  produce  strife  to 
no  purpose,  to  continue  to  oppose  this  union  with  the  Southern  Assembly,  Dr. 
Wilson  very  reluctantly  acquiesced  in  it.  We  should  remember  also  that  at  this 
time  overtures  were  under  way  for  the  reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School 
Assemblies;  and,  now  that  the  underlying  issues  of  the  whole  civil  commotion 
and  conflict  were  practically  settled  by  blood  and  revolution,  namely,  Secession 
and  Slavery,  Dr.  Wilson's  appeals  for  the  stay  of  passion  and  the  compromise 
of  peace  and  reconciliation  upon  the  old  constitutional  basis  become  the  more 
impressive  and  historic.  There  is  something  of  infinite  pathos  now  in  his 
statement: 

AN   OPEN   DOOR    TO   PEACE 

"But  sooner  than  the  most  sanquine  could  have  anticipated,  and  to  as  full 
an  extent  as  can  ever  perhaps  be  reasonably  expected,  I  now  rejoice  in  the  fact 
that  so  far  as  relates  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  North,  they  have  removed 
out  of  the  way  those  barriers  which  had  seemed  to  present  an  insuperable 
obstacle  in  the  way  even  of  fraternal  intercourse  between  them  and  their  brethren 
of  the  South. 

"The  Baltimore  Conference,  and  several  papers  that  passed  between  the  Com- 
mittees— one  paragraph  containing  all  that  was  necessary  to  the  South  as  opening 
the  door  for  them  without  dishonor,  and  in  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love,  to  have 
entered  upon   the  interchange  of  official   fraternal   relations: 

'We  declare  that  all  the  acts  and  deliverances  of  the  Northern  Assemblies 
of  which  you  complain  are  wholly  null  and  void  and  of  no  binding  efficacy  as 
judgments  of  the  Church  we  represent,  or  as  rules  of  proceedings  for  its  Synods. 
Presbyteries   and   church   sessions.' 

The  Committee  of  the  Northern  Church  said,  furthermore,  concerning  the 
Assembly  which  delegated  them  that  the  Body  they  represented  had  confidence 
in  the  soundness  of  doctrine  and  Christian  character  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  that  if  they  believed  them  to  be  as  charged  by  some — a  church  organ- 
ization in  the  interests  of  the  Rebellion  and  to  conserve  and  perpetuate  the  insti- 
tution of  Slavery — self-respect  would  have  prevented  seeking  fraternal  relations 
with  them. 

"We  did   not  deny,"   said   the  Committee,    "that   mistakes   had   been    made,    but 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE    NEW  273 

we  asserted  that  if  made  they  belonged  to  both  sides,  and  that  our  earnest  desire 
was  to  forgive  and  forget  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master;  and  we  asked  the  same 
charity  in   return." 

Upon  his  part,  Dr.  Wilson  could  not  see  what  more  the  Southern  Church 
could  reasonably  ask  at  the  hands  of  their  Northern  Brethren  as  a  basis,  or  as 
fully  opening  the  way,  if  not  toward  organic  union  on  the  common  standards, 
yet  at  least  to  coming  together  in  the  very  closest  bonds  of  brotherly  love  and 
ministerial  fellowship — especially  since  the  Southern  Church  had  come  to  admit 
that  some  blame  attached  to  her  also  on  the  same  ground.  It  seems  that  the 
Southern  General  Assembly  in  session  at  St.  Louis  wished  to  clear  her  records 
upon  this  point,   even  as  the  Northern  Assembly  had  already  done. 

DR.  WILSON'S  TRIBUTE  TO  DR.  VAN  DYKE 
Dr.  Wilson  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  J.  Van  Dyke  of 
the  Northern  Assembly  for  his  now  historic  action  with  the  author  of  the  Dec- 
laration and  Testimony  to  maintain  the  content  of  that  famous  deliverance: 
"It  is  known  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Van  Dyke,  of  Brooklyn,  for  his  noble,  fearless, 
and  eloquent  utterances  in  the  Synod  of  New  York  in  defense  of  the  principles 
of  a  non-political  Church  and  Presbyterianism  utterly  free  from  all  complicity  in 
the  affairs  of  the  State,  was  exposed  to  the  assaults  of  an  infuriated  mob,  and 
only  saved  from  the  extremest  violence  of  that  mob  by  the  interposition  of  those 
of  his  brethren  who  were  esteemed  to  be  more  loyal  to  the  Federal  Government. 

"And  among  all  the  men  not  living  within  the  territory  of  the  Southern 
Church,  there  are  none  whom  that  Church  has  seemed  more  to  delight  to  honor 
than  Dr.  Van  Dyke,  he  having  been  elected  immediately  after  the  close  of  the 
war  to  a  professorship  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbus,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  subsequently  called  to  the  pastorate  of  one  of  the  largest  and  wealthiest 
Southern   Presbyterian   churches,    the   church   at   Nashville,    Tennessee." 

AND  TO  DR.  SCOTT 
In  a  passing  tribute  to  another  of  this  able  coterie  of  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony witnesses  to  a  non-political  Church,  Dr.  Wilson  speaks  of  "The  Rev.  Dr. 
Scott,  long  the  devoted  and  most  deservedly  honored  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  New  Orleans  in  which  Dr.  Palmer  is  now  (1878)  his  successor,  has 
felt  compelled  to  leave  San  Francisco  rather  than  yield  in  the  least  his  commission 
as  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
men  of  all  classes  and  parties,  or  for  a  moment  to  descend  from  the  high  and 
divine  sphere  which  he  believed  the  Church  ought  to  maintain,  and  to  become 
a  combatant  in   the   arena   of   fratricidal   strife   concerning   the   things   of   Caesar." 

MAIN  POINTS  CONTENDED  FOR 
Let  us  now   note  a   few  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  this   famous  Declara- 
tion  and   Testimony.      The  signers  and  approvers  of  its  contentions  bore   witness: 

I.  Against  the  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  courts  of  the  Church  of  the 
right  to  decide  questions  of  State  Policy. 

II.  We  testify  against  the  doctrine  that  the  Church,  as  such,  owes  allegiance 
to  human  Rulers  or  Governments.  (Allegiance  or  loyalty  in  respect  to  human 
governments,  is  alone  predicable  of  persons  as  citizens.  The  Church  owes  her 
allegiance   alone   to   Jesus   Christ,    who   is   sole   King   in    Zion)  . 


274  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF   LINCOLN 

III.  We  testify  against  the  sanction  given  by  the  Church  to  the  perversions 
of  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  Flis  Apostles  upon  the  subject  of  the  duty  of 
Christians,  as  citizens,  "To  render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,"  and 
to  "be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers."  These  and  similar  scriptures  are  cited 
to  sustain  the  claim  of  the  Assembly  and  other  Church  courts  to  decide  upon  polit- 
ical questions:  to  prove  that  the  allegiance  of  a  Christian,  as  such,  is  due  to  a 
particular  Government:  to  warrant  the  exclusion  of  a  minister  from  his  office 
or  a  member  from  his  church  privileges  because  he  does  not  believe  his  allegiance 
is  due  to  this  or  that  particular  Administration:  or  that  he  is  bound  to  obey 
every  decree  or  law  of  the  Government  under  which  he  may  chance  to  live;  and 
to  bind  the  citizen,  as  a  Christian,  by  the  law  of  Christ,  "to  uphold,  strengthen, 
and  encourage  a  particular  form  of  Government,  or  a  present  Administration  of 
that   Government." 

These  doctrines  are  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  Word  of  God.  and  are 
virtually  the  doctrines  of  despotism  and  unquestioning,  unconditional  submission 
and  obedience  to  the  commands  of  any  actual  ruler,  no  matter  what  those  demands 
may  be. 

IV.  We  testify  against  the  action  of  the  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  Slavery 
and  Emancipation  in  1864.  and  as  confirmed  in  '65.  ...  It  omits  altogether 
all  reference  to  the  uniform  and  most  important  declaration  contained  in  its 
previous  expressions  of  opinion,  that  immediate,  indiscriminate  emancipation  of 
the  Negro  slaves  amongst  us  would  be  injurious,  and  injurious  to  both  master 
and  slave.  .  .  .  There  is  laid  down  a  new  doctrine  upon  this  subject  of  Slavery, 
unknown  to  the  apostolic  and  primitive  Church;  a  doctrine  which  has  its  origin 
in  infidelity  and  fanaticism.  .  .  .  Nor  has  the  Assembly  been  content  with  merely 
affirming  these  new  doctrines  upon  Slavery  and  Emancipation,  but  has  required 
a  cordial  belief  and  approbation  of  them  as  a  condition  of  membership  to  the 
church  and  of  the  exercise  of  their  official   functions   to  the  ministry. 


In  the  light  of  the  foregoing  facts  of  history  as  related  by  Dr.  Samuel  R. 
Wilson,  a  letter  to  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke.  Jr..  of  Princeton,  requesting  a  state- 
ment of  his  distinguished  and  beloved  father's  thought  and  action  throughout 
this  memorable  period  of  stress  and  trial  in  Civil  War  times,  elicited  a  most 
candid,  succinct  and  masterly  summary  of  the  convictions  and  principles  for 
which  his  father  fearlessly  and  faithfully  stood.  Their  serious  contemplation  in 
face  of  our  own  times  and  perils  and  problems  cannot  but  be  profoundly 
fruitful. 

DR.   VAN  DYKE   SUMMARIZES   THE   CRISIS   IN  CHURCH   AND  STATE 

Princeton.   N.   J..   May   I7).    1927 
Rev.    Lucien    V.    Rule. 
Goshen,    Kentucky 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter  of  May  21st  recalls  ancient  and  dim  memories.  In  regard  to  the 
so-called  "Declaration  and  Testimony"  I  cannot  recollect  facts,  names  and  dates 
with  sufficient  accuracy  to  make  a  report  of  any  value.  But  mv  honored  father's 
position  in  the  controversy  in  Church  and  State  at  that  time  is  perfectly  clear 
in   my   mind.      He   never  changed    it.    and    I    can    describe   it    clearly. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE   NEW  275 

1.  My  father  did  not  believe  that  domestic  slavery  was  a  sin  per  se.  But  he 
regarded  it  as  a  very  great  evil  and  desired  our  country  to  get  rid  of  it.  In 
his  judgment,  as  in  that  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Lincoln  and  others,  the  best 
way  to  do  this  would  have  been  by  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  Negroes  and 
by  some  plan  of  purchase  and  compensation  for  the  former  owners.  If  this  line 
had   been    followed    we   should   have  had   no   Civil   War. 

2.  My  father  was  a  strong  "states  right"  man.  He  thought  that  the  ques- 
tion of  the  possible  withdrawal  of  States  from  the  Union  was  not  settled  in  the 
Constitution.  But  he  considered  that  secession  was  highly  undesirable,  extremely 
dangerous,  and  that  if  it  involved  the  seizure  of  federal  property  by  seceding 
States,  it  would  lead  to  an  inevitable  and  dreadful  civil  war.  This  opinion  he 
stated  strongly  in  Charleston,  after  South  Carolina  had  seceded,  and  in  Richmond 
while  the  Virginia  legislature  was  considering  the  question.  He  was  against 
slavery,   against   "abolitionism,"   and  against  war.      He  was   for  union   and   peace. 

3.  My  father  believed  firmly  in  the  absolute  separation  of  Church  and  State. 
He  held  that  a  free  Church  should  exist  under  the  protection  of  a  free  State.  He 
did  not  hold  what  you  state  as  the  theory  of  the  Southern  Church,  namely, 
"that  social  and  political  discussions  have  no  place  in  the  House  of  God."  On 
the  contrary,  he  always  taught  and  preached  that  Christians  should  be  guided  by 
the  principles  and  rules  of  Christ  in  all  their  conduct,  in  civil  and  social  affairs 
as   well   as   in    religious   matters. 

4.  My  father  deeply  regretted  the  separation  of  the  Southern  and  Northern 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  thought  there  had  been  faults  on  both  sides,  and  that 
these  should  be  forgiven  and  as  far  as  possible  forgotten,  and  that  the  breach 
should  be  healed  by  the  reunion  of  the  two  churches.  For  this  cause  he  labored 
long  and  earnestly  in  conferences  and  committees  of  various  kinds.  When  he  was 
Moderator  in  1872  he  put  forth  his  best  efforts  in  this  direction.  But  not  long 
after  that — I  cannot  recall  the  exact  year — he  returned  from  one  of  these  con- 
ferences with  leaders  of  the  Southern  Church  under  the  sad  conviction  that 
reunion  was  impossible  at  that  time:  that  to  press  it  then  would  be  to  imperil 
its  ultimate  success;  and  that  until  there  was  a  change  of  mind  and  heart  in  the 
Southern  Church  the  best  thing  for  the  Northern  Church  to  do  was  to  let  the 
subject  alone,  but  not  without  expressing  clearly  a  strong  and  lasting  desire  for 
reunion   on   the   basis   of   the   standards   pure   and    simple. 

I  have  tried  to  state  his  position  clearly  and  accurately.  He  held  it  consist- 
ently throughout  his  life.  As  his  years  increased  his  orthodox  faith  remained 
simple  and  steady.  But  he  believed  more  and  more  with  advancing  age  that 
Christian  liberty  is  the  most  precious  of  all  things,  and  that  without  it  there  can 
be    no    true   and    genuine   Christian    orthodoxy.         Very    sincerely    yours, 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE. 

So  far  as  these  questions  are  still  living — slavery  and  secession  being  for- 
tunately dead — I   hold   the  same   views  which   my   father   held.  H.    V.    D. 


CHAPTER   XLIX 


51  IpWiiiml  ^mgf&ig  &nh  Jfar  %tmm&n 


ON  NOVEMBER  16,  1887,  the  John  C.  Breckinridge  monument  was 
dedicated  on  Cheapside  Square,  in  Lexington,  with  an  oration  by 
Senator  Blackburn,  blood-kinsman  of  Gideon  Blackburn,  the  great 
pioneer  Presbyterian  pulpit  orator.  They  were  both  my  ideals  of 
human  eloquence  and  exerted  a  lasting  influence  in  my  own  public  speaking- 
There  is  no  question  but  what  Senator  Blackburn  upheld  the  historic  traditions 
of  his  time  and  state  in  forensic  eloquence  and  debate;  and  in  dedicating  the 
Breckinridge  monument  he  measured  up  to  public  expectation.  But  as  time  has 
dimmed  the  luster  of  political  and  military  glory,  typified  by  Blackburn  and 
Breckinridge,  the  great  pulpit  orator  and  educator,  Gideon  Blackburn,  has  loomed 
larger  and  grander  to  me  on  the  horizon  of  history.  He  was  known  in  every 
quarter  of  our  country  as  the  Western  Whitefield;  and  he  was  unquestionably  a 
greater  orator  than  Senator  Blackburn.  He  was  the  opponent  of  slavery,  of 
duelling,  of  intemperance,  of  injustice  to  Indians  and  weaker  nations  by  the 
great  world  powers;  and  he  stood  at  the  fore  with  the  progressive  New  School 
Movement  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  such  men  as  Albert  Barnes.  Charles 
G.  Finney,  Lyman  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  There  was  substance  to  his 
oratory;  and  as  a  teacher  of  youth  he  advocated  and  founded  a  real  manual  labor 
college  in  Illinois,  like  Berea  in  Kentucky,  which  is  today  his  most  enduring 
monument.  In  grace  of  person  and  presence,  in  descriptive  power  and  impassioned 
utterance  he  was  a  veritable  Patrick  Henry,  and  established  at  Old  Centre  College 
a  century  ago  a  type  and  school  of  oratory  that  has  given  the  State  of  Kentucky 
world-wide   renown. 

The  same  day  the  Breckinridge  monument  was  dedicated,  an  incident  occurred 
in  Lexington  that  had  a  transforming  influence  on  all  my  after  life.  I  was  proud 
of  the  honor  of  enrollment  and  participation  with  the  cadets  that  day.  though 
the  gray  uniform  of  the  old  State  College  did  not  appeal  to  me  as  did  the 
Union  blue.  But  I  was  a  loyal  Kentuckian  and  a  devoted  admirer  of  Senators 
Beck  and  Blackburn,  Congressman  Breckinridge,  and  other  great  men  assembled. 
Mrs.  General  John  C.  Breckinridge  visited  next  door  to  my  aunt's  and  was  told 
of  my  boyish  hero  worship  of  her  noted  husband.  She  was  pleased  and  amused. 
John  C.  Breckinridge  was  reared  and  trained  in  the  classical  school  of  political 
eloquence  at  Old  Centre.  The  sculptor  Valentine  depicted  him  in  bronze  as  he 
was  shortly  after  1850  when  he  first  appeared  in  the  halls  of  Congress  from 
the  famous  Old  Ashland  District.  He  was  then  one  of  the  finest  looking 
men  in  America,  and  the  grace  and  music  of  his  oratory  soon  made  him  a  national 
figure..  The  flowing  mustache  of  the  bronze  figure  was  an  addition  of  the 
sculptor  Valentine  to  make  a  composite  of  the  orator  and  the  Civil  War  soldier. 
Owsley  Stanley,  afterward  United  States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  was  a  cadet 
commander   at   the  dedication   of   the   monument.      We   had   stacked   arms   and    were 


THE   OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW 


277 


at  rest  during  Senator  Blackburn's  oration.  Stanley  was  only  a  little  way  'from 
my  company.  I  knew  him  well.  He  was  a  brilliant  and  eloquent  speaker  and 
debater  at  the  Old  State  College.  He  gave  every  promise  of  future  distinction. 
Suddenly  I  saw  Stanley  with  his  arms  raised  before  his  face,  shaking  with  sobs. 
It  alarmed  me.  I  asked  what  was  the  matter  and  the  boys  told  me  that  just 
a  brief  half  hour  before  one  of  Stanley's  bosom  friends  had  been  shot  down  in 
a  street  duel  in  front  of  the  Phoenix  Hotel.  From  that  moment  it  seemed  as 
though   a   film   of   blood   obscured   the   sun   and   sky. 


Old    Centre    College,    Danville,    Kentucky 


HOW    THE    TRAGEDY   CAME    ABOUT 

Col.  Thomas  M.  Green,  of  Maysville,  and  Col.  Lewis  D.  Baldwin,  of  Nicho- 
lasville,  were  the  principals  in  the  tragedy  just  precipitated.  The  trouble  dated 
back  to  the  August  election  in  Col.  Baldwin's  home  county  of  Mercer.  Fraud 
was  charged.  Certain  poll  books  had  disappeared,  which  were  said  to  contain 
the  names  of  400  illegal  ballots.  The  books  were  not  recovered.  It  became  a 
matter  of  partisan  dispute,  and  Col.  Green,  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Com- 
mercial-Gazette, was  sent  to  Nicholasville  to  write  up  the  affair.  He  investigated 
and  intimated  certain  damaging  complicities  in  his  article.  Col.  Baldwin  sent  a 
letter  to  the  paper  indignantly  denying  this  accusation.  Col.  Green  replied  with 
data  and  taunted  Col.  Baldwin  with  sponsoring  the  poll-book  thief.  He  said 
it  was  worse  because  Col.  Baldwin  was  employed  in  the  American  Civil  Service, 
being  deputy  internal  revenue  collector  in  his  home  district.  These  allegations 
brought  Baldwin  to  the  newspaper  office  in  Cincinnati  without  delay,  demanding 
to  see  Green  and  settle  the  matter   forthwith   face   to   face. 

The  editor  wired  Green  at  Maysville,  and  Green  answered  that  he  would 
come  by  boat  or  train  at  once;  but  he  did  not.  Baldwin  waited  until  he  was 
worn  out  with  impatience  and  then  departed  for  home.      He  told  the  editor  to  tell 


278 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


Green  he  would  fight  him  on  sight  with  pistols  or  tooth-picks!  This  was  in 
September.  They  did  not  meet  for  a  couple  of  months,  but  mutual  friends  knew 
it  was  to  be  a  deadly  encounter.  They  had  never  seen  each  other;  nor  would 
they  have  known  each  other  by  sight.  They  came  to  the  unveiling  at  Lexington 
on  the  same  day.  They  were  told  of  each  other's  presence.  Baldwin  said  to 
his  friend  that  since  Green  was  in  the  city  he  proposed  to  find  him  and  have 
it   out   with  him. 

Just  a  half  hour  before  noon  the  two  men  met  in  front  of  the  Phoenix 
Hotel.  Green  was  pointed  out  to  Baldwin,  who  accosted  him  with  the  demand 
for  an  apology.      Green  answered:      "I   do   not   know  you,    sir;    who   are   you?" 

"My   name   is   Baldwin." 

"Oh,   no:      I  don't  owe  you  any  apology." 


Hutchinson    Memorial    Presbyterian    Church,    New    Albany,     Indiana 


"You  are  a  liar!  You  do!"  cried  Baldwin  with  a  burst  of  passionate  and 
profane  epithets.  Green  was  very  deaf  and  put  his  hand  to  his  car  saying.  "What 
was    that?" 

Baldwin  repeated  his  demand  with  the  epithets  for  emphasis:  but  Green 
shook  his  head  and  said  he  would  not  apologize,  nor  would  he  have  trouble  with 
a  blackguard  like  him.  Green  then  started  away  but  Baldwin  reached  for  his 
pistol,  and  Green  closed  in  on  him.  Baldwin's  right  hand  was  free,  holding  the 
weapon,  with  which  he  struck  Green  savagely  over  the  head.  Green  let  go  of 
Baldwin   and   stepped   backward,   drawing   his  own   gun. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH   IN    THE    NEW  279 

W.  H.  Polk,  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Baldwin,  had  been  standing  across 
the  street  from  the  Phoenix  as  the  men  approached,  and  anticipated  the  tragedy. 
He  rushed  up  and  appealed  to  the  bystanders  to  separate  them.  In  thus  expos- 
ing himself  he  received  two  pistol  wounds,  either  of  which  came  within  a  hair's 
breadth  of  his  own  life.  Green  fired  twice  and  Baldwin  three  times.  Green's 
first  shot  passed  through  Polk's  hand  and  penetrated  Baldwin's  heart.  Baldwin 
cried  out,  "Oh,  my  God,"  and  fell  to  the  pavement,  expiring  in  three  minutes. 
Green  rushed  to  his  room,  pistol  in  hand,  summoned  a  physician  and  had  his 
own    wounds    dressed    after    the   ball    was    removed. 

A  coroner's  jury  quickly  returned  a  verdict  and  Green  was  put  under  arrest. 
Baldwin's  body  was  taken  to  Nicholasville  at  7  p.  m.  He  was  3  8  years  old, 
handsome,  brave  and  popular.  He  left  a  young  wife  and  six  children.  He  had 
been  noted  for  hunting  down  moonshiners.  Green  was  a  widely  known  news- 
paper correspondent  of  the  old  school  partisan,  political  type;  and  the  encounter 
and    tragedy    were    typical    of    Kentucky    politics. 

It  seems  that  Col.  Green  was  cleared  at  the  trial  which  followed;  and  we  saw 
him  a  number  of  times  in  Danville  afterward,  with  his  charming  family,  during 
our  college  days.  The  events  of  that  year  at  the  Old  State  College  instinctively 
turned  our  feet  toward  Old  Centre,  where  the  tradition  and  atmosphere  were  far 
more  congenial  to  young  men  seeking  success  and  renown  at  the  bar  or  in  the 
pulpit.  Owsley  Stanley  came  down  to  Old  Centre  to  graduate.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  Christian  minister,  and  one  would  have  imagined  him  a  promising 
preacher  of 'the  gospel;  but,  like  Sam  Wilson,  at  the  same  school  about  that 
time,   his  aspirations   were  to  practice  law   and   go   to   Congress. 

THOMAS    B.    TERHUNE 

Among  the  outstanding  ministerial  students  at  Old  Centre  when  we  arrived 
was  Thomas  B.  Terhune,  a  tall,  slender,  rather  delicate-looking  young  man. 
He  dispelled  our  homesickness  with  his  genial  cordiality  and  took  us  to  the 
Deinologian  Literary  Society,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  which  upheld  the 
Gideon  Blackburn  tradition  of  oratory.  We  were  told  that  the  society  name 
meant  "Great  Speaker,"  and  in  reasoning  power  and  graceful  utterance,  Thomas 
B.  Terhune  speedily  became  our  ideal.  Sam  Wilson  and  Owsley  Stanley  were 
also  ideals  to  us  in  the  high  art  of  public  speech;  but  Terhune  could  hold  his 
own  with  any  of  them.  He  was  born  in  Perryville  some  years  after  the  Civil 
War.  His  father  lived  there  and  was  a  miller.  He  was  a  widower  during  the 
Battle  of  Perryville  and  married  again.  He  was  a  Union  man  and  a  member  of 
the  Home  Guards.  When  his  son  Tom  came  to  Old  Centre  it  was  with  the 
dream  of  studying  law  and  going  to  the  United  States  Senate.  He  had  excep- 
tional opportunities  with  Milton  Durham  and  other  leading  attorneys  of  Central 
Kentucky,  and  he  was  brought  up  amid  the  ideas  of  the  classic  old  school  oi 
Southern  oratory.  He  had  the  grace  and  elegance  of  manner  and  conversation, 
the  personal  charm  of  that  brilliant  generation,  a  keen  and  unerring  valuation 
of  human  nature  and  an  abounding  sense  of  humor.  But  Terhune  came  of  an 
old  line  of  Huguenot  Presbyterians,  and  was  endowed  with  unusual  intellect, 
a  profound  spiritual  instinct,  and  a  pervading  social  vision.  After  some  passing 
contact  with  the  wild  oats  crowd  at  college  he  came  under  the  spell  of  the  gospel 
and   was   converted.      This   was   no   mere   emotion   or   mood   with   him   but   a   real 


280 


THE   FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 


awakening  of  the  whole  man-  It  was  the  changed  and  regenerated  viewpoint 
and  spirit  of  a  young  man  whose  heart  God  had  touched.  It  was  a  typical  and 
epochal  experience,  just  as  great  in  his  day  and  generation  as  in  olden  time. 
Bound  up  in  it  was  his  decision  to  study  for  the  gospel  ministry.  He  relinquished 
his  dream   of  law   and   the   National   Senate. 


THE    LAW    AND    THE    PROPHETS 

This  may  seem  a  rather  astonishing  and  disappointing  decision  to  any  young 
man  of  such  possibilities  and  expectations;  but  Terhune  says  the  call  to  preach 
the  gospel  was  with  him  an  overpowering  experience.  Owsley  Stanley  was  in 
those  days  a  school  teacher  down  in  Terhune's  home  neighborhood.  He  was 
a  real  teacher  in  the  sense  of  making  the  youth  think:  and  he  said  to  Terhune 
one  day,    "Tom,    what   are   you   going  to   do  in   life?" 


B.EV.    THOMAS    B.    TERHUNE,     D.     D. 
Pastor    Hutchinson    Memorial    Presbyterian    Church 


"Preach  the  gospel,"  answered  Tom:  and  Stanley  replied.  "Well,  Tom.  the 
pulpit  is  the  only  place  left  now  for  real  eloquence."  Terhune  backs  up  his 
decision  and  Stanley's  statement  today  by  saving  that  the  great  political  leaders 
of  the  world  get  the  ear  of  mankind  only  when  they  become  preachers  of 
righteousness.  Bryan,  Roosevelt,  Coolidge.  appeal  most  when  they  are  non- 
partisan and  spiritual.  Terhune  insists  that  the  men  of  God  are  the  greatest 
messengers   to   humanity   of   our   own   and   of   all    time. 


THE    OLD   SOUTH    IN   THE    NEW 


281 


With  regard  to  Stanley  going  to  Congress  and  the  Senate,  Terhune  says  that 
success  in  law  and  politics  in  Old  Kentucky  was  not  such  a  difficult  thing  as  it 
may  appear.  Men  of  alert  brain  and  brilliant  gifts  of  speech  like  Stanley  set 
before  them  the  practice  of  the  law  and  participation  in  public  affairs;  so  that 
when  the  time  came  to  select  leaders,  they  were  the  available  men.  It  was  a 
consistent  and  logical  success. 


Old-time    Presbyterian    Sacramental    Camp-meeting-    in    the    Forest 

The  Mt.  Tabor  Camp-meeting-  originated  in  the  weekly1  religious  services 
held  every  alternate  Tuesday  night  at  a  home  near  Mt.  Tabor,  in  November, 
1835.  In  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1S36  the  Riev.  Samuel  K.  Sneed, 
pastor  of  the  First  Church,  New  Albany1,  who  was  conducting*  these  services, 
had  seen  such  results  from  the  Tuesday  night  meetings,  and  a  Sunday  after- 
noon Bible  Class  of  young  people,  that  he  encouraged  the  formation  of  a 
camp-meeting  at  Mt.  Tabor.  This  was  an,  immediate  success.  It  was  held 
both    in   summer   and    fall    for   a   number    of   years. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  1836  that  a  few  members  of  the  First  Church 
purchased  three  acres  of  ground  at  Mt.  Tabor  and  a  farmer  donated  another, 
which  was  set  apart  as  a  camp-meeting  and  solemnly  named  Mt.  Tabor  for 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  The  first  camp-meeting  was  in  June,  183  6, 
with  numerous  conversions,  including  the  man  who  gave  the  acre  of  ground. 
The    meetings    were    continued    twice    a   year    until    1843. 

The  Second  Church  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1837,  and  the  Mt.  Tabor 
Camp-meetings  passed  under  its  auspices  and  the  continued  direction  of  Mr. 
Sneed.  A  house  of  worship  was  erected  at  Mt.  Tabor  in  1838.  The  Second 
Church  was  connected  with  the  New  Schoiql  Assembly,  but  was  always 
friendly  with  the  First  Church;  and  in  1853  the  Third  Church  was  organized. 
Mr.  Sneecl  continued  with  the  Second  Church  until  1843.  The  camp-meetings 
were  very  popular  with  the  churches  at  that  time;  and  in  the  green  groves 
of   Mt.    Tabor    many    souls    were    converted    who    came    into    church    fellowship. 


But  men  like  Terhune,  who  chose  the  gospel  ministry  thirty  years  ago,  had 
no  path  of  flowers  nor  bed  of  roses.  In  fact,  when  Terhune  went  to  McCormick 
Seminary  in  Chicago  in  the  early  nineties,  that  memorable  gestation  period  of 
American  social  and  economic  history,  the  period  of  panic  and  unemployment  and 
social  upheaval,  the  period  that  once  for  all  terminated  the  Civil  War  times  and 
practices   and    ideals — he   experienced   a    tremendous   shaking   up   of   soul    and    body, 


282  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  LINCOLN 

and  upheaval  of  spirit  more  terrible  and  testing  than  when  he  was  first  con- 
verted and  made  his  decision  to  study  for  the  ministry.  God  was  calling  him 
to  be  a  preacher  of  righteousness  and  regeneration,  in  the  midst  of  a  great  modern 
Ninevah;  but  like  Jonah,  he  lost  his  nerve  and  ran  away  from  both  God  and 
the  call. 

He  was  in  the  hot  water  of  mental  readjustment  from  the  old  secluded, 
cloister  idea  of  God  and  man  to  the  new  and  trying  ordeal  of  consolidated,  social, 
industrial,  business  life.  He  had  several  calls  from  churches  round  about;  and 
one  from  far  away  Montana.  He  had  prepared  himself  by  street  preaching  and 
mission  work  in  the  City  by  the  Lake.  He  had  accepted  the  call  to  Montana 
and  made  all  arrangements  to  go;  but  at  the  last  moment  wrote  them  a  candid 
letter  telling  them  he  would  not  suit  their  needs  and  expectations.  They  replied 
in  good  spirit,  releasing  him,  and  he  took  the  train  home,  feeling  like  a  bird 
out  of  a  cage.      He  had  made  up  his  mind   to   go   back   to  law   and   to   politics! 

EVADING  THE  CALL  OF  GOD 

But  it  was  Jonah  running  away!  He  staid  around  home  with  great  release 
and  relish  for  a  while;  but  in  time  it  proved  to  him  the  whale's  belly.  Finally 
he  told  his  wife  he  was  going  West  to  find  God's  place  for  him  in  the  pulpit. 
He  had  the  Pacific  Coast  in  view;  but  this  time  he  was  not  running  away  from 
God  and  duty.  He  landed  in  Missouri  and  was  invited  to  preach  in  a  certain 
town.  He  was  called  and  accepted  the  charge,  which  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  memorable  in  all  his  life.  He  found  a  loving  and  appreciative  people.  He 
realized  his  dream  of  human  brotherhood  and  became  a  Freemason.  Here.  too. 
he  planned  to  settle  down  and  write  the  story  of  his  terrific  spiritual  struggle 
and  triumph.  But  he  was  taken  down  suddenly  with  a  dread  disease  and  made 
his  preparations  to  die.  He  was  calm  and  unafraid  in  face  of  death.  One  faith- 
ful friend  and  his  devoted  wife  refused  to  give  up  hope  when  he  was  all  but 
dead.  Finally,  during  an  interval  of  consciousness,  he  rose  up  and  told  his 
wife  and  friend  he  was  going  to  get  well;  that  he  had  a  super-natural  assurance 
from  God  as  to  this;  and  that  he  had  been  close  to  the  Borderland  and  knew  of 
a  truth  the  existence  of  a  living  God  and  Life  Eternal.  From  that  hour  he 
began  to  mend  and  to  improve.  He  came  up  out  of  the  Jaws  of  Death  and 
back  from  the  Valley  of  Shadows.  His  healing  and  release  were  pronounced 
almost,    if   not   actually,    a    miracle,    by    the   physician. 

THE  RETURN  AND  TRIUMPH 

Terhune  traced  back  the  tradition  and  history  of  education  and  eloquence  to 
the  Old  Log  College  of  pioneer  days  in  the  New  West.  This  primitive  institu- 
tion found  boys  and  youth  hungry  for  light  and  education;  and  their  teaching 
and  training  fell  on  ready  soil.  It  was  not  every  youth  who  could  go  to  acad- 
emy or  college  in  those  days.  They  were  the  exception.  Terhune  says  that  even 
in  his  day,  while  there  was  a  free  school,  it  was  men  like  his  father  who  sub- 
scribed and  made  it  possible  for  the  local  school  to  become  an  academy,  and  for 
the  man  who  taught  it  to  prepare  promising  youth  for  the  professions  by  a  col- 
lege foundation.  Today,  after  thirty  years  even  of  Tcrhunc's  life,  education  is 
far    more    widely    disseminated.       The    average    high    school    lad    knows    more    than 


THE    OLD   SOUTH   IN   THE    NEW  283 

boys  did  graduating  from  college  in  those  days,  or  far  back  in  the  time  of  the 
Log  College  of  the  New  West.  Democracy  in  education  is  fast  becoming  a  fact; 
and  the  youth  of  our  time,  in  town  and  country,  is  familiar  with  facts  of  science 
and  life  that  the  youth  of  long  ago,  or  thirty  years  ago,  was  an  utter  stranger 
to.  The  teacher  and  preacher  of  our  generation  have  a  much  harder  task  to  win 
the  attention  and  hold  the  interest  of  the  student  body  and  the  congregation; 
and  as  pastor  of  the  big  Hutchinson  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church,  New  Albany', 
Indiana,  he  is  pre-eminently  a  man's  minister. 

The  interview  with  our  old  schoolmate,  Terhune,  in  which  he  told  us  these 
things  so  near  to  his  heart,  was  at  the  hotel  in  North  Vernon,  Indiana,  after  an 
address  to  our  Men's  Brotherhood,  an  address  full  of  vision  and  humor  and  great 
human  understanding.  He  insists  that  the  church  has  undergone  a  great  change- 
In  the  days  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  William  Tennent,  Gideon  Blackburn  and 
Charles  G.  Finney,  the  American  people  lived  amid  a  background  of  the  primitive 
American  forest,  close  to  Nature  and  were  highly  sensitized  and  spiritualized. 
God  was  a  very  real  person  and  presence  as  in  the  days  of  Moses  and  Elijah 
and  the  old  prophets.  7'hese  pioneer  men  of  God  on  our  continent  had  but  to 
speak  and  they  commanded  instant  attention.  Sometimes  by  their  very  presence 
alone,  like  Charles  G.  Finney,  they  struck  down  the  souls  of  men  and  women 
under  deep  conviction  of  sin;  and  conversions  were  startling  and  inevitable.  It 
was  an  age  of  great  orators  and  spiritual  eloquence.  They  accomplished  marvel- 
ous things  and  remain  the  wonder  of  their  age  and  of  after  generations.  They 
were  trained  in  a  school  of  oratory  associated  with  the  names  of  Gideon  Black- 
burn, the  Breckinridges,  and  other  great  pulpit  leaders,  which  has  given  to  Ken- 
tucky  a   fame   almost   world-wide. 

But   our  task   is   very   different    today,    in    the   midst    of   a    complex    commercial 
civilization.      We   can    no    longer    hide    behind    barriers    of    doctrine    and    fight    our 
religious   neighbors,    like   Campbell    and    Rice,    who    were    champions    to    their    time 
and   following.      We   can   no   longer  herd   off  our   congregations   so   that   they    will 
not  mingle  and  fellowship  with  peoples  of  other  faith,   as  did   the  denominational 
leaders  of  long  ago.      No.    the  preacher  of  today   has   the   biggest   and   greatest   task 
of  all   time  committed  to   the  man   of  God.      It  is  a   task   so   much   larger  than   the 
political  partican  conceives,   that  they  are  not  to  be  mentioned   in   the  same  breath. 
On   it   world   issues  .-and   destinies   hang.      And    no   apology    is    offered    by    Terhune 
today   for   giving   up   his   dream   of   the  law   and   the   Senate   to   become   an   humble 
preacher   of   the    gospel.      The    moral    is    that    the    statesman    must    himself    measure 
up    to    a    standard    and    ideal    infinitely    higher    and    nobler    than    in    days    of    old. 
From   our   own   personal   life   and   experience   we   realized    the   truth   of   every    word 
he  said.      Religion   is   today   in    the  Melting   Pot;    and   just   as   the   panic   period    of 
the  nineties   moulded   anew   in    the   crucible   and   fiery    flame   of   suffering   our   own 
individual    vision    and    devotion    to    God    and    man,    so    the    times    through    which 
we  are  now  passing  are  as  sure  to   remould  and   remake   the  conviction   and   vision 
of  Christian   Citizenship,    local,    national    and    international.      In    the   light    of   such 
a  conception   the  selfish   partisan   is  almost   an   enemy   to  humankind. 


President  Wm.  A.  Millis  of  Hanover  College.  Moderator  Synod  of  Indiana. 
1926-7.  Anthor  of  a  "History  of  Hanover  College."  A  central  figure  in  the 
movement  to  /make  education  democratic.  Son  of  a  brave  Civil  "War  veteran 
who  was  wounded  at  the  Battle  of  Richmond,  Ky.  Dr.  Millis  incarnates  the 
best  in  the  old  class-leal  and  the  new  scientific  and  vocational  ooll/ege  systems. 
Reared  at  PaJoli,  the  son  of  the  home  church  and  school,  he  carries  in  his 
heart  the  welfare  of  the  small  town  and  country  boy  and  girl  of  limited 
means  seeking-  an  education.  Came  to  Hanover  with  a  splendid  reputation 
as  a  High  School;  educator  and  restored  the  college  to  front  rank  efficiency 
in  its  service  to  the  masses  of  Christian  people  all  over  Southern  Indiana. 
Has  made  Hanover  the  center  of  training  youth  for  social  and  religious 
leadership.  A  master  of  the  small  town  and  country  church  problem.  Takes 
the  position  that  they  are  spiritual  producers  of  the!  choicest  youth,  that  go 
away  to  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  and  hence  must  be  miiinitainod,'  at  all 
hazards.  Dr.  Millis  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  1911  at  the  old  Mt.  Lebanon 
Church  near  Henryville  at  a  memorable  meeting1  of  Presbytery  (New  Albany). 
The  superb  Centennial  Pageant  of  Hanover  College  history,  written  by  Mrs. 
.Millis.  and  produced  in  .June.  1 !» 1Z 7.  told  the  story  of  Christian  education  in  a 
way   never   to   be   forgotten. 


3£  kt  £  0xtx%\nntxm 

Forerunners  of  the  Better   Time   to   be; 
Love  Voices  in  the  Western  Wilderness; 
Pathfinders   in    whose    footsteps   still    we   press, 
Climbing   the  perilous  steeps   to   Liberty. 
Teachers   of    Truth    they    set    the    people    free — 
Co-workers   in    the   Old   World   House   of   Toil. 
They  braved   the  deep   to   find  a  virgin   soil 
And    Promised    Land    beyond    the    sundown    sea. 
Their  Church   and   Altar    were    the   cabin    home, 
The   open    wood,    and   God's    unbounded    dome. 
Without  a   thought   of  glory,   self  or   gold, 
They   fed   the   flock    within    the   forest   fold; 
And  we,  their  children,  in  a  New  Crusade, 
Must  lift   the  Cross  and  follow   unafraid! 


By  ALBERT  EDWARD  WIGGAM 


CS^  EORGE    GREY    BARNARD,    the    sculptor,    studied    the    Lincoln    mask 

j"       •>■        ten    hours    a    day    for    one    hundred    and    twenty- five    days.       Yet    the 

^^   JL        passing    citizen,    who    has    gotten    his    education    in    art    from    a    study 

of    advertised    merchandise    or    the    pictorial    appeal    of    Jones'    Soups 

glancing    at    Barnard's    statue    of    Lincoln,    feels    entirely    competent    to    pronounce 

with   finality   upon   its   truth,    definition    and   power. 

It  is  no  trivial  thesis  I  have  advanced.  The  beauty  of  Lincoln  is  a  tremend- 
ous thing — a  tremendous  thing  in  science,  in  art.  in  America's  contribution  to 
the  sum  of  life.  I  have  said  he  was  democracy  made  flesh.  This  is  no  rhetor- 
ical flourish.  Written  in  his  face  and  figure,  his  stride  and  gesture  are  all  the 
authorized  symbols  of  democracy.  They  are  as  clearly  carved  as  the  symbols  of 
religious  worship  upon  some  ancient  monument.  There  are  patience  with  human 
error,  sympathy  with  human  suffering,  indignation  against  human  wrong.  There 
are  the  light  of  exhuberant  hope,  the  far-away  melancholy  of  unfulfilled  dreams, 
the  utter  reliance  upon  self  coupled  with  the  grace  of  selflessness,  the  forgiveness  of 
folly,    and    the   touch   of  copious    undying   humor. 

And  what  are  all  these  but  the  adequate  and  abiding  characters  which  enable 
men  to  co-operate  with  one  another  toward  the  great  ends  of  a  self-governing 
civilization?  And  in  symbolizing  and  formulating  these  immense  facts  of  life 
Lincoln  fulfills  the  requirements  of  the  sublime  and  beautiful.  If  the  beauty  of 
Lincoln  were  taught  in  our  schools  by  those  who  understand  it,  it  would  do  as 
much  at  least,  to  Americanize  Americans  and  democratize  foreigners  as  all  our 
flag-waving  and  singing  out  of  tune  to  wheezy  organs  our  nationalistic  shib- 
boleths. 


286 


THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  JONATHAN  JENNINGS  AND  ANN  HAY 

(Somewhat  in  the  background  of  the  story  of  heroic  struggle  to  make  In- 
diana and  the  Northwest  Territory  Free-soil,  from  1809  to  1816,  lies  the  fascin- 
ating love  tale  of  Jonathan  Jennings  and  Ann  Gilmore  Hay.  He  it  was  who 
made  good  the  pledge  and  purpose  of  Thomas  Jefferson  in  this  deliverance,  and 
she  typifies  "Democracy"  in  her  glorious  young  girlhood.  She  is  thus  described 
by  Mabel  C.  Morrison  in  an  exquisite  brochure  biography:  "Jonathan  Jennings 
came  to  John  Hay's  home  (in  Charlestown)  in  1809,  to  enlist  his  support  and 
influence  for  his  candidacy  for  territorial  represntative.  It  was  at  this  time  he 
first  saw  Ann  Hay.  The  Kentucky  maid  had  bloomed  into  a  beautiful  young 
woman,  with  large  brown  eyes,  reddish  brown  hair,  a  fair  skin  and  a  graceful 
carriage.  Her  manners  were  most  pleasing.  Her  voice  had  an  enticing,  soft 
Southern  accent.  Mr.  Jennings,  while  exerting  every  effort  for  his  election,  found 
time  to  keep  in  touch  with  Ann.  On  his  return  from  his  first  year  in  Congress 
he  brought  her  a  miniature  of  himself,  which  Ann  wore  as  a  locket.  It  is  from 
this  miniature  that  the  portrait  in   the  Indiana   State   House   was   made.") 


JONATHAN     JENNINGS 


A  boyish  and  unbearded  youth. 

Who   held   aloft    the    Torch    of    Truth, 

And    in    the    cause    of    Freedom    gave 

His    soul    to    serve    the    shackled    slave. 

A    child    of    Home    and    School    and    Church. 

Brought   up   by   brains  and  not    by   birch: 

And    when    he    came    to    man's    estate. 

Democracy    became    hts    mate. 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  LINCOLN  28! 

He  met  her  in    the   Western   wild, 
So   beautiful   and   undeRled, 
That   to   her   altars   still    we    turn. 
And    in    her    lovely    temple    learn. 
Equality    for    one    and    all. 
Without    their    backs    against    the    wall; 
Lending    a    kindly,    helping    hand 
To    every    lad    within    the    land. 

Even  for   those   who  sinned  and   fell, 

He   had   a   heart    that    wished    them    well, 

And    left    a    trail    of    genial    light 

Backward   to   Reason  and   to   Right. 

Yea,   on   the  Level  and   the  Square 

He  daily   lived,   and   everywhere 

Men    called   him   comrade,    as    they    do 

The  brave  and  good,  sincere  and  true. 

So    while    the    centuries    come    and    go, 
Their   ashes,    sleeping   here   below, 
Will  hither  summon   pilgrim   feet, 
Who  still  find  Human  Freedom  sweet. 
And    so    in    song    and    storied    stone 
Their    noble    memory    men    enthrone, 
Tribute    unto    the    great    and    free 
Who  live  and  die  for  Liberty. 


CHAPTER  LI 


WITH  A  WORD  FROM  DOCTOR   VAN  DYKE 


Avalon,    Princeton,    N   J.    June   4,    1927. 
My    Dear    Mr.    Rule: 

This  is  just  a  line  to  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  June  2nd,  and  for  your 
courtesy  in  sending  me  your  excellent  summary  of  Dr.  Wilson's  story  of  "The 
Declaration  and  Testimony."  While  the  controversy  itself  belongs  to  the  past,  it 
has,  as  you  say,  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  problems  which  we  are  facing  at 
present  in  Church  and  State.  I  still  hold  to  the  principles  which  my  father 
held,  of  ecclesiastical  non-interference  in  political  matters;  the  duty  of  the  State 
to  protect  religious  liberty;  and  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  promote  by  moral 
means    social    welfare. 

With  best  regards,  Faithfully   yours, 

HENRY    VAN   DYKE. 
Rev.   Lucien   V.   Rule, 
Goshen,    Kentucky. 


[     C     ■    VER   since   the   days   of   Samuel   Davies   and    John   Witherspoon   historic 

m  Old    Princeton    has    occupied    a    peculiar    and    impregnable    position    in 

^.    J       the    controversies    and    revolutions    of    Church    and    State.       She    has 

been    the    arbiter    of    truth    in    contention,    the    moderator    of    passion 

in   dispute,    the   interpreter   and   dispenser   of   constitutional    law    and    liberty    in    the 

Kingdom    of    God        Samuel    Davies    was    foremost    in    defending    the    rights    of 

American   freemen   as   British   subjects;    and   John   Witherspoon    moulded    the    mind 

of    James    Madison    in    the    principles    that    compose    the    American    Constitution 

Charles    Hodge    followed    after    as    a    true    Princctonian.     for    while    he    furnished 

Robert    J.    Breckinridge    the    points    of    difference    between    Old    and    New    School 

theology,   Princeton  did  not  lend  herself  to   forcing  the  Division  of    183  7-8,   and 

Dr.    Hodge   fearlessly   led   the   opposition    in    the    General    Assemblies    of   Civil    War 

times  to  the  political  tests  of  loyalty  advocated  by  Dr.   Breckinridge. 

President  Lincoln  said  that  he  liked  the  preaching  of  Dr.  Phineas  D.  Gutlev. 
his  Washington  pastor,  "because  he  kept  so  far  aloof  from  politics  in  the  pulpit," 
thus  sanctioning  the  very  principle  of  constitutional  Presbyterianism  here  empha- 
sized. It  was  in  the  Columbus  Assembly  of  1862  that  Dr.  Samuel  B.  McPhect- 
crs,  a  trained  Princctonian,  challenged  Dr.  Breckinridge  in  so  masterly  a  manner 
upon  this  very  principle  and  brought  down  upon  himself  such  severe  condemna- 
tion.      Even    President    Lincoln    was    baffled    and    worried    and    troubled    how    to 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  LINCOLN 


289 


settle  so  fine  a  point  in  the  heat  of  war  time,  when  the  attitude  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Pheeters  seemed  to  everybody  a  concealed  Southern  attachment.  But  time  has 
proven  the  sincerity  of  Dr.  McPheeters'  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  his  integrity 
of  defense  of  the  most  precious  legacy  of  the  Reformation — A  Free  Church  in  a 
Free  State.  Dr.  McPheeters  sealed  his  signature  to  "The  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony"   with    his    life. 


Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  of  Princeton  Seminary,  a  great  and  historic  character 
in  Presbyterian  annals.  The  most  beloved  religious  teacher  of  his  time 
and  country.  In  his  classes  at  Princeton  were  numbers  of  Baptist!  students 
for  the  ministry.  Rev.  James  P.  Boyce,  D.  D.,  of  South  Carolina,  founder  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  Seminary  at  Louisville,  was  for  two  years  a  pupil 
of  Dr.  Hodge.  Associated  with  Dr.  Boyce  was  Rev.  John  A.  Broadus,  D.  D.. 
who  as  a  teacher  and  preacher  was  known  and  beloved  like  Dr.  Hodge;  and 
the  Baptist  Seminary  at  Louisville  was  a  powerful  factor  in  national  reunion 
and  social  progress.  Drs.  Boyce  and  Broadus  were  bosom  friends,  men  of  the 
Gamaliel   mould,   and  gave   their  institution   a   fame   like   Princeton's. 

April  23d.  1873,  the  jubilee  of  Dr.  Hodge's  coming  to  Princeton,  was 
celebrated  bv  the  presence  of  400  former  students  and  representatives  from 
every  Presbyterian  Seminary  and  body  in  the  world.  The  Episcopal, 
Methodist,  Congregational,  Lutheran,  and  Reformed  churches  sent  repreisenta- 
tives  also.  It  was  a  forecast  of  a  reunited  Protestantism;  and  June  19th, 
1878  the  venerable  and  beloved  master  in  Israel  fell  asleep  in  Jesus  as  the 
summer    sun    sank    to    rest. 


It  was  a  great  satisfaction,  therefore,  to  crown  this  story  of  a  hundred 
years  of  struggle  and  controversy  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Ohio  Valley 
during  the  mighty  age  of  Abolition  and  Civil  War  with  such  a  Historic  Sum- 
mary as  Dr.  Van  Dyke  has  written  to  supplement  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Wilson's  story 
of  the  famous  "Declaration  and  Testimony."  There  are  Gideons  and  Gamaliels 
in  every  such  crisis  of  Church  and  State.  The  Gideons  are  raised  up  of  God 
to  smash  our  idols  and  to  attack  the  hoary  wrongs  entrenched  amongst  us.  The 
great  Abolition  preachers  of  the  foregoing  pages  were  the  Gideons  of  their  time 
and  country.  'The  Man  With  the  Hammer"  must  do  his  work  and  deliver  his 
blows.  He  always  seems  fearless,  unfeeling  and  fanatical;  but  he  has  his  place 
in  human  progress.  He  incarnates  the  Social  Conscience  of  his  age.  His  vision 
is    that    of    revolt    and    revolution. 


290  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

Yet  we  must  all  admit  that  the  mission  and  spirit  of  Gamaliel  is  the  final 
solvent  of  social  ills  and  wrongs  because  it  is  Love  fulfilling  the  Law.  It  is 
Justice  tempered  with  Mercy.  "The  Man  With  the  Hammer"  in  this  case  is  the 
Moderator  with  his  gavel  from  session  to  General  Assembly,  representing  at  all 
times  the  ultimate  triumph  of  order  and  equity,  of  forbearance  and  good  will, 
of  patience,  unity  and  peace.  Few  men  in  all  our  hundred  years  of  history  as  a 
Church  herein  portrayed  have  so  perfectly  typified  the  spirit  and  power  of  Ga- 
maliel  in  two   generations  as  have   Dr.    Van   Dyke  and   his   revered   father. 

It  is  the  glory  of  our  communion  that  it  has  always  embraced  the  Gideons 
and  Gamaliels.  They  are  the  pillars  of  Truth  and  Love  in  the  Temple  of 
Freedom  and  Faith.  Perhaps  the  conception  of  a  great  Mother  Church  un- 
prejudicial,  impartial,  dispassionate  in  times  of  terrific  social  upheaval  and  fratri- 
cidal strife  seems  Utopian  and  poetic  only.  Yet  the  Masonic  Lodge  of  America 
was  precisely  that  during  our  Civil  War  and  never  divided  asunder.  It  was 
the  Foster  Mother  of  the  American  Red  Cross  whereas  the  Abolition  Movement 
was    Anti-Masonic. 

Ordinary  human  nature  seems  capable  only  in  rare  moments  of  those  inspir- 
ing principles  of  impartial  justice  and  those  deep  sentiments  of  human  com- 
passion and  brotherhood  which  underlie  our  very  spiritual  and  social  existence. 
It  is  to  the  eternal  honor  of  Dr.  Breckinridge  that  in  time  of  uncertainty  and 
dissention  he  stood  like  a  Gibraltar  Rock  for  Lincoln  and  the  Union.  Says  his 
biographer:  "In  1861  and  throughout  the  Civil  War.  the  same  unwavering 
and  determined  faith  in  himself  and  in  the  justice  of  his  cause — which  character- 
ized him  in  the  courts  and  councils  of  the  Church  from  1831  onward  to  within 
a  year  of  his  death — found  gradual  development  and  then  full  and  vigorous  sway. 
He  was  a  Union  man  decidedly,  from  the  beginning  of  the  contest  to  its  close: 
but  more  actively  and  intensely  so  than  his  writings  in  1861-2  gave  earnest  of — 
sustaining  many  of  even  the  most  extreme  war  measures  in  Kentucky,  where  his 
influence  with  the  military  authorities,  as  also  with  the  Administration  at  Wash- 
ington was  commanding  if  not  controlling.  He  was  one  of  the  giants  of  the 
intellectual  and  religious  world  and  the  power  of  the  Government  was  strength- 
ened  by   his  co-operation   and   support." 

This  same  biographer  remarks  of  Dr.  Breckinridge  that  "he  encouraged  the 
Church  to  make  deliverances  on  the  'state  of  the  country.'  in  which  it  left  its 
true  sphere  to  intermeddle  with  things  civil;"  but  he,  with  equal  truth,  declares 
that  in  1860  the  measure  of  Dr.  Breckinridge's  fame  was  full — as  a  statesman, 
as  a  writer,  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  as  a  theologian:  and  without  the  slightest 
evasion  or  equivocation  he  sacrificed  everything  upon  the  altar  of  loyalty  to  the 
Union.  He  had  powerfully  defended  the  rights  of  the  South  in  the  controvcrsv 
over  Slavery;  but  when  it  came  to  the  crucial  hour  he  stood  out  .like  Andrew 
Jackson  and  other  mighty  Southern  leaders,  for  all  that  Abraham  Lincoln  lived 
and  died   to  see  endure  among   men. 

All  men,  however,  have  their  limitations.  Dr.  Breckinridge's  biographer 
records  that  "firmly  and  consistently  he  opposed,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  the 
Reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Presbyterian  Churches:  never  consenting  to 
'go  back  upon.'  or  acknowledge  as  wrong  the  Old  School  action  in  which  he 
took  so  prominent  a  part  in  1834-38."  It  was  even  so  with  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge,  and  the  Reunion  had  to  come  about  without  them.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher 
deeply   deplored    the   prejudice   of   Scotch-Irish    Presbyterians    toward    New    England. 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  LINCOLN  291 

It  was  due  to  an  old  race  animosity  between  the  English  Puritans  and  the  Scotch- 
Irish  Covenanters;  and  this  hostility  animated  the  war  waged  against  Dr.  Beecher. 
Yet  it  was  Henry  Ward  Beecher  who,  in  1873,  made  his  triumphal  lecture  tour 
of  the  South  and  paved  the  way  for  the  restoration  of  good  will  and  reciprocity 
between  the  sections  of  our  once  divided  Union  of  the  States.  In  Louisville  his 
lecture,  February  21st,  on  "Manhood  and  Money"  to  an  immense  and  enthusiastic 
audience,  kindled  the  soul  of  leaders  like  Henry  Watterson:  and  in  due  season 
Henry  W.  Grady  arose  like  a  star  to  declare  "The  New  South"  a  reality. 


A    JUBILEE    VOLUME 

It  has  long  been  the  custom  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  celebrate  its 
jubilee  occasions  by  the  publication  of  a  notable  book  of  history  and  by  a  con- 
secration or  endowment  offering  to  some  great  cause  or  benevolence.  At  the 
Reunion  of  1870  such  a  book  was  published,  and  the  gifts  to  the  cause  of  home 
and  foreign  missions  totaled  nearly  seven  million  dollars.  The  present  centennial 
time  of  Presbyterianism  in  the  Ohio  Valley  has  centered  especially  in  the  Synod 
of  Indiana  at  Vincennes  (1826-1926),  and  at  Hanover  College  (1827-1927): 
and  the  Historical  Committee  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana  has  published  a  beautiful 
brochure.  President  Millis  has  published  a  fascinating  "History  of  Hanover  Col- 
lege." And  the  present  volume  has  followed  by  a  peculiar  force  of  circumstances 
that  transformed  it  from  a  historic  record  of  our  pioneer  heroes  in  the  Old 
Louisville,  Salem  and  Madison  Presbyteries  into  a  chronicle  of  the  "Forerunners 
of  Lincoln,  in  the  Ohio  Valley."  The  contemplation  of  these  heroes  of  the 
Cross  in  our  Western  country  the  past  hundred  years,  many  of  whom  closed  their 
lives  of  service  upon  the  mere  pittance  of  poverty  and  charity,  should  do  more 
than  anything  else  to  justify  the  wonderful  provision  made  by  our  new 
Pension  System  against  the  rainy  day  and  the  evening  of  life  for  the  disabled 
and  retired  veterans  of  the  gospel  evangel.  And  not  only  are  we  proud  of  the 
work  of  Will  H.  Hays,  as  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  in  this  achievement; 
but  the  return  of  the  spirit  of  faith  and  fellowship  between  all  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  America  bids  fair  to  hasten  the  day  of  a  closer  unity 
and   federation   in   the  Kingdom   of   God   on   earth. 

Other  histories  have  been  written  to  show  the  influence  of  our  Church  and 
her  heroes  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Periods;  but  this  is  the  first  attempt, 
so  far  as  we  know,  to  vision  and  evaluate  the  tremendous  spiritual  contribution 
of  our  Church  to  the  entire  Civil  War  and  Lincoln  Period — which  was  our 
second    great    Revolution. 

It  would  require  another  volume  to  chronicle  the  story  of  the  Restorers 
and  the  Great  Reconciliation  that  followed  after  the  Civil  War.  This  beautiful 
story  is  suggested  in  the  Historic  Summaries  of  Dr.  Charles  R.  Erdman  and  Dr. 
Thornton  Whaling.  Especially  does  Dr.  Whaling  live  and  work  in  a  city,  sem- 
inary and  state  where  these  things  have  already  come  to  pass.  Himself  one  of 
the  great  statesmen  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.,  and  Moderator  of  her 
General  Assembly  in  1924,  he  has  stood  at  the  wheel  in  perilous  times  and 
places,  like  Dr.  Erdman,  and  heartens  every  true  lover  of  God  and  man  by  his 
message.  It  is  only  the  matter  of  a  few  years  when  the  Southern  Church  too, 
will   have   completed   her   Pension   Endowment   system:    and   already    in    the   city    of 


292  THE  FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

Louisville  she  has  (in  the  John  Little  Industrial  School)  created  and  established 
a  work  of  Negro  Missions  that  Dr.  Warren  H.  Wilson  says  is  the  model  for 
the  entire  Church.  A  spiritual  campaign  for  its  endowment,  in  the  autumn  of 
1927,  has  enlisted  the  hearty  co-operation  of  all  related  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
bodies  in  the  city,  and  will  demonstrate  once  more  that  when  we  work  together 
for  the  glory  of  God  in  the  good  of  our  fellowmen,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is 
at  our  very  doors.  The  very  presence  of  the  noble  and  noted  African  missionary, 
Rev.  Wm.  H.  Sheppard,  D.  D.,  with  Mr.  Little  has  made  the  years  memorable; 
and  one  by   one  the  dreams  of  the  old  Liberators  are  coming  to  pass. 


CHAPTER   LII 


HISTORIC    SUMMARY    OF    WARREN    H.    WILSON 
(An    Interview) 


To    Dr.    Wilson 


No  braver  man  of  God  in  all  the  years 

E'er  called  the  recreant  Church  to  serve  her  time. 

From  dull,   dead  days  to   faith  and  work  sublime, 

Her   desert   blooms,    and   Hope's   sweet   spring    appears. 

Her  balm  to  others  dries  her  own  sad  tears- 

And   in   long   silent   towers   the   Christmas   chime, 

With   pilgrim   penitents  of  sin   and   crime, 

Restored   and   trusted   where   each   scene  endears. 

The  barren   countryside   and   little   town 

To   fruitful   effort   turn   and   settle   down; 

And  songs  of  Harvest  Home  now  fill   our  ears. 

Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  hath  the  heart  yet  heard 

The   glory   hidden    in    His   Holy   Word 

For   war-torn   worlds   that   wear   His   Cross   and    Crown. 


|^  ^Y  T  THE  Centennial  Meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana  at  Vincennes  in 
Vy^Jk  October,    1926,    we   discussed    at    some    length    and    with    the    utmost 

^  j^  candor  and  critical  analysis  the  entire  scope,  purpose,  and  subject 
matter  of  the  present  volume  with  Dr.  Warren  H.  Wilson  of  New 
York,  another  outstanding  authority  and  man  of  vision  in  our  communion  on 
so   great   a   subject   as   that   herein    attempted. 

Dr.  Wilson  agreed  at  once  that  a  book  was  sorely  needed  to  describe  the 
religious  movements  and  social  migrations  of  the  Ohio  Valley  between  Louisviile 
and  Cincinnati — a  section  of  country  rich  in  material  yet  unused  and  demanding 
a  competent,  conscientious,  discriminating  and  unprejudiced  hisotrian.  But  he 
asked    with    penetrating    insistence: 

"Why  single  out  the  Presbyterian  Forerunners  when  there  are  Methodist 
Forerunners,  like  Peter  Cartright,  and  Disciple  or  Christian  Forerunners,  like 
Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell?  I  came  upon  Cartright's'  tradition  with 
great  satisfaction,  and  it  is  partial  and  prejudicial  not  to  include  him  or  any 
Baptist  Forerunners.  It  might  gratify  our  Presbyterian  pride  and  complacency 
to  imply  that  the  Forerunners  were  more  typical   of  our  own  Church  and  people; 


294  THE  FORERUNNERS   OF  LINCOLN 

but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  not.  On  the  contrary  they  were  present  in  these 
other  churches  and  communions,  for  Emancipation  and  Abolition  were  spiritual 
conceptions  and  social  movements  confined  to  no  one  church  or  community  of 
people.  In  a  word,  the  Social  Conscience  was  a  possession  of  certain  souls  highly 
sensitized  to  the  appeals  of  justice  and  human  sympathy,  no  matter  what  churcn 
or  communion   they   were   found   in. 

"Again,  the  sentiment  of  liberty  was  not  so  much  an  over-sea  importation 
of  our  pioneer  forefathers  as  it  was  a  necessity  and  practice  of  their  isolated  and 
individualized  lives.  What  was  once  a  necessity  became  a  habit  of  mind  that 
remained   after   the   isolation   was   gone. 

"Furthermore,  can  we  really  say  that  these  men  whom  you  designate  as 
'Forerunners'  were  possessed  by  a  prophetic  preconception  or  auticipation  of  the 
tragedy  of  Civil  War  and  the  martyrdom  of  Lincoln  the  Liberator?  Why  con- 
nect these  spiritual  dreamers  and  pioneer  prophets  with  Lincoln,  whose  mission 
and  accomplishments  for  Liberty  were  wholly  political?  Were  they  not  worthy 
in  their  own  right  to  be  considered  and  described?  Why  magnify  a  bridge  or 
a  ferry  unduly  because  Lincoln  once  crossed  it,  when  hundreds  and  thousands 
no  less  obscure  than  he  at  that  time,  and  no  less  worthy  as  pioneers  of  the  great 
Northwest   Territory,    crossed   the   same   bridge   or   ferry? 

"Can  you  not  imagine  that  the  pioneer  'Forerunners'  themselves  might  have 
resented  or  objected  to  being  thus  connected  with  a  political  Emancipator  and 
Movement  when  their  dream  and  mission  were  wholly  spiritual?  Can  you  not 
imagine  also  that  Lincoln  himself  would  have  disliked  being  magnified  and 
glorified  above  the  common  people  he  loved  so  well? 

"In  a  word,  had  we  better  not  be  trying  to  get  toward  a  reawakened  re- 
ligious  conscience  in  our  own  time  and  section  and  social  problems  by  rediscov- 
ering the  religious  consciousness  of  the  pioneer  people  and  describing  it  in  a 
simple,    illuminating,    and   helpful   manner? 

"The  'Forerunners'  as  educators  were  by  no  means  all  Presbyterians.  The 
Methodist  and  Baptist  educational  movements  were  just  as  early  on  the 
ground,  and  worthy  in  their  own  way,  and  of  course  can  not  at  all  be  ignored 
or  left  out.  The  Presbyterians  do  have  a  few  dominating  and  dynamic  characters 
like  McGready,  'The  Son  of  Thunder,'  whose  flaming  denunciations  of  sin 
struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  evil-doers  in  the  forest  wilds  of  Kentucky  and 
Indiana  at  the  primitive  camp  meetings:  but  let  us  seek  and  describe  other  'Voices 
in   the  Wilderness,'   be   they   Methodist,    Baptist   or  Christian.' 

As  a  partial  reply  to  these  very  suggestive  and  forceful  comments  of  Dr. 
Wilson,  we  insisted  that  the  Social  Conscience  as  a  part,  product  or  experience  of 
a  spiritual  rebirth  is  so  unusual  and  startling  to  the  average,  casual,  or  conven- 
tional convert  that  the  Church  has  never  in  any  age  recognized  or  acknowledged 
it  at  all.  We  might  almost  characterize  it  as  bastard  and  taboo.  At  least  to  the 
priestly  and  time-serving  type  it  is  always  and  forever  beyond  the  pale  of  spiritual 
legitimacy.  That  is  why  the  Social  Conscience  has  so  often,  alas,  been  deemed 
and  dubbed  the  child  of  Atheism  and  Anarchy!  The  saying  of  M.  Taine  in  his 
"History  of  English  Literature"  rings  eternally  in  our  soul:  "Beyond  this  uni- 
versal sympathy  that  gathers  mankind  about  the  oppressed  there  is  the  working 
of  the  religious  sentiment.'  And  President  Millis.  of  Hanover  College,  insists 
most  emphatically  that  the  Anti-Slavery  Vision  of  John  Finlcy  Crowe,  for  which 
he  was  exiled   from   Kentucky   to   Indiana,    was   part    and   parcel    of   his   evangelistic 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  LINCOLN 


295 


and  missionary  conviction  and  passion.  Hence,  it  seemed  to  us  most  timely  and 
important  today,  when  we  are  passing  through  a  period  and  experience  identical 
with  the  social  awakening  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  to  interpret  for  Presbyterian-; 
especially  their  own  prophetic  social  pioneers  of  the  past,  to  give  them  vision  and 
anticipation  of  the  impending   future. 


REV.    JAMES     K.     PATTERSON,     D.     D. 

'Hanover  graduate  in  the  class  of  1856,  who  became  the  founder  of  the 
Kentucky  State  College  and  University  when  the  Morrill  Bill  for  the  land 
endowment  of  scientific  and  vocational  education  by  the  Statie  universities 
became  a  law  in  Lincoln"s  Adminisration.  A  terrific  struggle  ensued  between 
the  old  classical  colleges  and  these  new  State  institutions.  It  was  a  tre- 
mendous move  toward  democracy  in  education;  and  in  Kentucky  President 
Patterson  made  a  heroic  stand,  unaided  and  alone,  to  prevent  the  defeat  of 
the  appropriations  for  the  university  in  the  State  Legislature.  Arrayed 
against  him  were  the  combined  forces  of  the  old  classical  system.  A  cripple 
on  crutches,  he  appeared  on  the  floor  of  the  Legislature  as  the  sole  attorney 
for  his  cause,  and  pledged  every  dollar  of  his  own  private  resources  to 
keep  the  university  alive.  The  writer  was  a  pupil  under  President  Patterson 
in  those  heroic  days  and  witnessed  the)  Scotch  intelligence  and  Courage  that 
so  signally  triumphed.  Ranking  with  President  MciCosh  of  Princeton,  and 
President  Fisher  of  Hanover,  as  a  reconciler  of  the  conflict  between  science 
and  faith,  he  became,  like  them,  the>  instructor  of  scores  and  hundreds  of 
youth  in  the  modern  day  who  have  adorned  every  human  advocation  and 
blessed  their  race  and  time.  President  Patterson,  like  President  McCosh,  spent 
the  evening  of  an  advanced  age,  vigorous  and  unimpaired,  at  the  great 
university  to  which  he  gave  his  life.  The  small  college  has  readjusted  its 
curriculum  to  meet  the  demands  of  modern  education  and  is  now  addressing 
itself  nobly   to   the   tasik    of  Christianizing   the    social   and    industrial    order. 


Dr.  Wilson  made  answer  thus:  "  'The  pioneer  Forerunners'  were  not  troubled 
so  much  about  the  future.  They  were  grappling  with  the  day  and  conditions 
under  which  they  lived;  and  so  are  we.  Hence,  it  will  be  a  tremendous  service 
to  give  us  social  vision  and  spiritual  courage  to  meet  the  tasks  and  toils  that 
await  us  just  ahead.  The  Emancipation  and  Abolition  Movements  were  indeed 
supreme  expressions  of  the.  Social  Conscience,  as  you  say;  but  your  treatment  of 
this   life    and   period    of    the    early    pioneers    should    not    confine    itself    to    that    one 


296  THE   FORERUNNERS   OF   LINCOLN 

phase  or  experience,  however  picturesque  or  arresting.  It  should  be  thorough  and 
consistent,  even  as  life  itself  is  manifold  and  wonderful.  For  the  production  of 
such  a  book  you  should  gird  yourself  as  one  of  God's  anointed — having  lived  in 
the   midst   of   your   historic   material    from    your   youth    up." 

It  is  nedless  to  add  that  we  have  taken  to  heart  every  injunction  of  this 
candid  critic  and  faithful  friend  of  many  years.  We  have  thought  and  toiled  over 
these  pages  day  and  night  to  make  them  conform  in  some  measure  at  least  to 
the  needs  and  demands  existing.  Dr.  Wilson  insisted  further  that  no  just  and 
accurate  interpretation  of  Lincoln  in  relation  to  those  "Forerunners"  who  pre- 
ceded him  could  possibly  evade  or  leave  out  some  account  of  the  mighty  men  of 
God  on  the  other  side,  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon  Line.  He  pointed  out  with 
unerring  truth  that  the  modification  of  the  Abolition  extremists,  the  "justice  tem- 
pered with  mercy."  the  "charity  for  all  and  malice  toward  none."  that  so  nobly 
characterized  Lincoln,   originated  in  the  heart  of  the  South,   his  Motherland. 

So  then,  as  to  the  "Forerunners,"  Dr.  William  Chalmers  Covert,  in  his  dedi- 
catory address  at  the  unveiling  of  the  Centennial  Tablet  at  Vincennes.  expressed 
in  brief  and  forceful  sentences  the  scope  and  purpose  of  our  own  historic  por- 
trayals: 

"We  are  compelled  to  say  that  there  can  be  no  conquering  Church  today. 
no  dominant  Christian  leadership  in  our  social  life,  no  supreme  note  of  godliness 
in  our  education,,  no  sacrificial  giving  or  serving  in  our  great  philanthrophies,  if 
the  men  of  the  pulpit  and  pew  today  in  anywise  lose  out  of  their  lives  these 
old  time  principles  that  gave  power,  victory  and  immortality  to  those  pioneer 
preachers.  While  we  write  their  names  in  bronze  let  us  write  their  principles  in 
our  hearts.  They  have  been  personalized  conspicuously  in  the  lives  of  these  found- 
ers. They  brought  joy,  peace  and  spiritual  power  into  this  wilderness,  one  hun- 
dred years  ago.      They  are  as  necessary  and  effective  today  as  they  were  then. 

"These   men   of   the   wilderness   reveal    the   pastoral    urge   at   its   maximum. 

"They  register  evangelism   as  the  major  emphasis  in  their  work. 

"They  held  the  gospel  to  be  the  only  moral  dynamic  capable  of  regenerating 
trie    social    order. 

"They  insisted  that  education  and  Christian  culture  were  essential  to  sound 
religion   and   sane   leadership. 

"These  are  principles  that  are  so  fundamental  to  our  healthy  spiritual  life 
as  a  Church  today,  and  so  essential  to  any  kind  of  a  worthy  saving  program  in 
a  sin-ruined  world,  that  we  had  better  let  go  some  of  our  controversial  enthusi- 
asms and  rigorous  logic  and  give  our  attention  to  the  elemental  principles  that 
undergird  the  very   foundations  of  the  Church." 


CHAPTER    LIII 


4iIpp  Wtnii  0$'ikt  ^FamiLg  ^xtt9f 


^CT\  R.    ALBERT   EDWARD   WIGGAM    prefaces   his    famous    book.    "The 

III        Fruit    of    the    Family    Tree,"    with    a    chart    of    the    Edwards    Family 

J  |J£        of   New    England.      The   intellectual,    moral    and    spiritual    heritage    of 

this    remarkable    family    he    regards    as     "God's     wealth     of    heredity 

stored  in   the  germ   cells,"    which,    "if   lost,   can   never  be   reproduced." 

Pointing  out  the  indisputable  facts,,  he  says,  "Let  the  frontispiece  chart  tell 
the  graphic  story,  Elizabeth  Tuthill  was  a  marvelous  girl,  nearly  three  hundred 
years  ago  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  She  married  Richard  Edwards,  a  great 
lawyer.  They  had  one  son  and  four  daughters.  They  have  all  left  their  mark 
upon  American  blood.  And  when  anything  marks  a  nation's  blood,  it  marks 
for  weal   or  woe  its  ideals,   institutions  and  history. 

"Later  in  life  Richard  Edwards  married  Marv  Talcott.  She  was  an  ordi- 
nary, every-day,  commonplace  woman.  She  had  ordinary,  every-day.  common- 
place children.  The  splendid  heredity  of  Richard  Edwards  was  swamped  by  the 
mating.  But  the  union  of  two  streams  of  great  blood  of  similar  character  begets 
great  blood.  The  son  of  the  first  marriage  was  Timothy  Edwards,  one  of  the 
founders  of  Yale  University.  He  was  the  father  of  Jonathan  Edwards.  From 
Jonathan  Edwards,  who  married  also  a  wonderful  woman,  Sara  Pierpont,  have 
descended  12  college  presidents,  265  college  graduates,  65  college  professors,  60 
physicians,  700  clergymen,  75  army  officers,  60  prominent  authors.  100  lawyers, 
30  judges,  80  public  officers —  state  governors,  city  mayors  and  state  officials — 
3  Congressmen,  ,2  United  States  Senators  and  1  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States." 

It  was  in  the  light  of  such  facts  that  Mr.  Wiggam  suggested  a  tabulation 
of  the  descendants  of  Rev.  Thomas  Cleland  of  Kentucky,  the  first  pioneer  Presby- 
terian preacher  in  Indiana  Territory.  This  remarkable  man  of  God  belonged  to 
the  period  of  the  Log  Cabin  and  the  Log  College.  He  was  born  in  Fairfax 
County,  Virginia,  May  22,  1778.  He  speaks  with  great  modesty  of  his  par- 
entage,   and    that   in    the   third    person,    thus: 

"In  regard  to  his  ancestry  he  knows  but  little.  His  father  was  an  humble 
mechanic;  his  principal  calling  was  that  of  making  spinning  wheels,  but  could 
do  almost  anything  in  wood  or  iron,  that  anyone  else  could  do.  He  was  very 
poor  as  to  this  world's  goods,  and  withal  very  feeble  in  physical  constitution.  He 
had  an  ordinary  English  education;  but  he  possessed  a  good  share  of  common 
sense,  and  his  intellect  was  rather  above  the  common  order.  Beyond  my  father 
I    have    no    knowledge    of    my    paternal    anccstrv. 

"My  mother"s  maiden  name  was  Richards.  She  was  a  plain  woman,  a  kind 
mother,  and  in  domestic  life  rather  excelling  than  otherwise,  in  regard  to  econ- 
omy  and   good    management.      Father   and    mother    were    both    highly    respected    by 


298  THE  FORERUNNERS   OF  LINCOLN 

their  neighbors  and  all  acquaintances.  Neither  of  them  ever  publicly  professed 
religion.  They  were  very  moral  and  friendly  toward  religious  people,  and  raised 
their   family    in    good    repute.'" 

This  modest  and  simple  mention  of  his  parentage  reminds  us  of  the  brevity 
and  force  of  Bible  genealogy:  "And  there  went  a  man  of  the  House  of  Levi 
and  took  to  wife  a  daughter  of  Levi."  But  from  this  first  Thomas  Cleland,  in 
one  hundred  years,  were  descended  34  ministers  of  the  gospel,  not  to  mention 
other  professions  and  avocations  that  have  been  adorned  by  men  and  women  of 
the  same  blood   and   birth. 

There  were  three  Thomas  Clelands,  ministers,  in  three  generations.  Thomas 
Cleland,  Second,  was  born  December  12,  1816,  and  died  in  January,  1892.  at 
Lebanon,  Ky.  He  was  the  biographer  of  his  father.  The  third  Thomas  Cleland 
was  a  son  of  John  W.  Cleland,  brother  of  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Cleland.  John  W 
was  born  February  24,  1814,  and  died  September  6,  185  6.  His  son  was  born 
March    13,    1843,   and  died  August   26.    1916. 

Mrs.  Annie  Cleland  Barbour  of  Louisville,  sister  of  the  third  Thomas  Clel- 
and, has  graciously  furnished  us  with  valuable  facts  and  pictures  of  the  Cleland 
family.  We  may  mention  in  passing  that  in  several  instances  the  Clelands  inter- 
married with  other  notable  Southern  families,  such  as  the  Wickliffes  and  Lapsleys. 
Robert  Wickliffe  Cleland,  a  minister  of  California,  was  a  son  of  the  second 
Thomas  Cleland.  He  had  a  son  who  was  a  most  promising  young  student  vol- 
unteer at  Princeton  and  died  at  the  threshold  of  service.  Samuel  Lapsley.  the 
famous  missionary  hero  and  martyr  of  the  African  field,  was  a  near  cousin  of  the 
Clelands. 

Thomas  Cleland,  the  pioneer,  made  his  cabin  home  in  Mercer  County, 
Kentucky,  a  home  and  seminary  for  young  students  for  the  ministry.  He  thus 
established  one  of  the  earliest  Log  Colleges  and  Seminaries  in  the  Kentucky  wil- 
derness. Thomas  H.  Cleland,  Second,  in  the  biography  of  his  father,  speaks  of 
"his  manhood  and  force  of  character,  and  much  that  was  attractive  in  him;  his 
vigorous  constitution,  the  resolution  with  which  he  met  difficulties  and  opposition. 
The  primitive  structure  of  his  dwelling  and  its  appointments.  His  frankness 
and  honesty:  the  simplicity  of  his  manners,  dress,  and  mode  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression. The  familiarity  of  his  intercourse  with  all  classes  of  people;  his  genial 
humor;  his  fondness  for  the  implements  of  frontier  life — the  axe  and  the  rifle. 
His  hearty  and  unostentatious  hospitality  at  home,  and  his  exemplary  patience 
with  what  his  younger  brethren  find  intolerable — bad  roads,  bad  weather,  and 
rough    fare    when    on    duty    abroad.'" 

Thomas  Cleland  belonged  to  the  second  generation  of  the  pioner  preachers 
of  Kentucky,  his  son  tells  us.  and  was  the  first  Presbyterian  Home  Missionary 
to  Vincennes,  Indiana,  in  1805.  Governor  Harrison's  wife  was  a  Presbyterian, 
and  the  welcome  extended  the  young  preacher  was  cordial  indeed.  John  Scott 
Harrison,  the  infant  child  of  Governor  and  Mrs.  Harrison,  was  the  first  Protestant 
child  baptized  in  Indiana  Territory,  during  this  visit  of  the  young  Kentucky  mis- 
sionary. Governor  Harrison  held  the  candle  while  he  read  the  Bible,  lined  out 
the  hymns  and  gave  his  sermon.  Mrs.  Harrison  was  a  communicant  of  the  first 
church  group  at  Old  Vincennes.  When  they  removed  to  North  Bend,  Ohio. 
General  Harrison  was  a  Sunday  School  teacher  for  many  years,  and  from  there 
was  elected  to  Congress.  One  of  the  sons  was  the  son  of  a  President  and  the 
father  of  another.      These   young   men   were  devout   Presbyterians. 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  LINCOLN  299 

It  is  interesting  to  record  that  in  1809  a  young  Methodist  Circuit  Rider 
on  the  Vincennes  group  appeared,  supposing  that  he  was  the  first  Protestant 
preacher  to  visit  the  town.  But  Thomas  Cleland  had  already  preceded  him  twice. 
Nevertheless,  General  Harrison  and  other  government  officers,  a  few  English  and 
French  settlers,  and  two  or  three  red  men,  constituted  a  very  respectable  audience 
in  the  fort.  Tallow  candles  lighted  the  room  and  General  Harrison  again  held 
the  candle  for  the  young  preacher  to  read  his  scripture  and  line  out  the  hymns: 
but  he  spoke  extempore  with  great  acceptance,  as  Thomas  Cleland  had  done. 

During  the  Reminiscent  Hour  of  the  Centennial  of  the  Indiana  Synod  at 
Vincennes,  in  October,  1926,  the  Rev.  E.  P.  Whallon.  D.  D.,  had  this  to  say 
of  the  Harrisons  and  the  Old  Vincennes  Presbyterian  Church.  "The  church  was 
organized  in  1806,  during  the  Governorship  of  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  who  was 
Governor  from  1800  to  1813;  and  it  was  in  his  home  and  in  the  Council 
Chamber  where  he  exercised  that  Governorship  that  the  early  meetings  were  held; 
and  the  first  sermon  that  was  preached  was  made  possible  by  Governor  Harrison 
holding  the  candle  in  order  to  lighten  the  page  read  from   the  Word  of  God. 

"The  first  child  baptized  in  Indiana  was  a  Presbyterian,  John  Scott  Har- 
rison, the  son  of  Wm.  Henry  Harrison.  That  child  grew  up,  and  as  the  years 
went  by  Governor  Harrison  moved  from  this  place  and  went  to  North  Bend, 
Ohio,  where,  as  Major  General  and  as  Congressman,  and  as  United  States  Sen- 
ator, he  passed  on  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  His  son,  John  Scott 
Harrison,  the  child  baptized  here  in  Vincennes,  grew  up  in  the  Cleves  Church, 
in  which  Wm.  Henry  Harrison  was  a  Sabbath  School  teacher  and  a  trustee.  In 
the  Cleves  Church,  of  which  I  am  the  present  minister,  there  is  a  Bible  which  was 
presented  by  Mrs.  Anna  Symmes  Harrison  to  that  church.  John  Scott  grew  up 
to  be  an  elder,  Sabbath  School  superintendent,  Congressman,  and  eight  of  his 
grandchildren  were  baptized  in  that  Cleves  Church,  one  of  them  being  Benjamin 
Harrison,  who  from  Indiana,  went  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  President  and  the  father  of  a  President.  So  we  can  not  know 
the  position  which  one  of  these  children  may  yet  occupy.  The  Bible  still  rests  in 
the  pulpit  from  which  I  read  the  lesson  on  last  Memorial  Sabbath.  I  was  once 
pastor  of  this  church  where  the  Harrison  family  worshipped  one  hundred  years 
ago;  and  I  now  minister  to  the  Ohio  congregation  with  which  for  five  genera- 
tions   the   Harrisons   have    worshipped." 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Frontispiece— -'Barnard's     ■Louisville      Lincoln 

Rev.    Charles    R.    Erdman,    D.    D XI 

Log    Cabin    of    Lincoln's    Birth XVI 

Old    Portrait    of    John    Finley    Crowe 'Z 

Edward     Eggleston      7 

Scene    of    "Old    Union    Meeting    House" 11 

Gideon      Blackburn       15 

Francis     Snowden     16 

The    Old    Francis    Snowden    Homestead     17 

Hanover    Presbyterian     Church 21 

Old     Vernon     Presbyterian     Church 22 

New    Albany    Presbytery    at    Vernon    Church     Centennial 24 

North     Vernon     Presbyterian     Church 25 

George    Grey   Barnard:  and    his   First    Grteat   Mastelrpiecie    29 

Dr.    J.    R.    Barnard    and    Dr.    Francis    S.    Downs 35 

Birthplace    of    George    Grey    Barnard 3  6 

Lincoln    FaTnily    Pew,    First    Presbyterian    Church,    Springfield,    111 40 

Rev.    J.    R.    Barnard,    D.    D 43 

Dr.    Barnard    the    Year    of    his    Death 47 

Rev.    James    Smith.    D.    D.,    Lincoln's    Pastor 52 

Rev.   Phineas   D.   Gurley,    D.    D.,   Lincoln's   Washing-ton   City    Pastor 54 

Boyhood    Home    of   Dr.   Smith,    Newton    Airds,    Scotland 56 

Monument    to     Dr.     Smith.     Glasgow,    Scotland 57 

"Beautiful       Jane       Todd" 58 

Monument    to    Father    David    Rice,    Danville,     Ky 60 

Typical    Log   Pioneer   School    House,    Goshen,    Ky 62 

Charlestowri,    Indiana,    Presbyterian    Church 68 

Mrs.    Elinor   Snowden    Loughrie 76 

Rev.    P.    S.    Cleland,    D.    D 78 

Grave    of    Parson    John    Todd 81 

Rev.    David    Nelson 92 

Jonathan     Jennings 101 

"Uncle  Bill   Wood,"   Old   Pioneer,   Utica,   Ind 104 

Old   North    Carolina   Prarie    Schoioner 106 

Lyman    Beecher     128 

Mt.   Tabor   Presbyterian  Church,    Indiana    130 

Rev.    Henry    Ward    Beecher    in    his    younger    years 131 

Jennings  County    Court    House,    Vernon,    Ind 132 

Grave    of    Rev.    John    M.    Dickey 135 

Rev.     Ninian     S.     Dickey 138 

Rev.    Henry    Little,    D.    D 144 

Father    Gale,    Pioneer    Sunday    School    Organizer,    Indiana II 6 

John     Vawter     152 

Old    Vernon    Baptist    Church     154 

Rev.    Beverly    Vawter 155 

Old     Vernon     Christian     Church 157 

Old    Vernon    Methodist    Church 158 

John,    Lattimore,    Jennings    County     Pioneer 160 

Old    Graham   Church,    Jennings    County,    Indiana 161 

Rev.     Daniel     Lattimore     162 

The    Lattimore    Home,    Vernon,    Ind 163 

Rev.    Walter   O.    Lattimore 161 

Vernon's     Earliest     Academy      Building 169 

Old    Academy    of    1859    and    after 170 

Summer   Home   of  Albert    Edward    Wiggam,    Vernon,    Ind 173 

Prof.    Wm.    H.    C.    Butler    and    Wife 179 

Prof.    Noble    Butler     181 

George    A.    II.    Shideler    [nterviewing    Prisoners 1S7 


List  of  Illustrations — Continued 

Rev.     Thornton    Whaling-,    D.     D 181) 

Rev.    Samuel    Davies,    D.    D 191 

Rev.    John    Witherspoon,    D.    D 192 

Rev.    and    Mrs.    John    Rankin 198 

Bankin    Home    Where   Mrs.    Stowe    met    "Eliza" 200 

Rev.    Samuel    Doak,    D.    D 202 

Birthplace    of    Rev.    John    Rankin '. 203 

Rev.    George    W.    Gale,    D.    D 207 

Rankin    Monument,    Ripley,    Ohio 208 

Henry    Ward    Beecher     218 

Presbyterian    Church    and    Manse,    Lawrenceburg,    Ind 219 

Lawrenceburg   Church    in    Beecher'a    Time 220 

Rev.     Forest     C.     Taylor     221 

Rev.    Joshua   L.    Wilson,    D.    D 225 

Rev.   Thomas  Cleland,    D.    D 226 

First    Presbyterian    Church,    Vincennes,    Ind 229 

First    Presbyterian    Church     Building,    Cincinnati 235 

Rev.   James   Kemper,    first    Pastor    in    Cincinnati 23G 

John    Finley    Crowe     239 

Rev.    Samuel    R.    Wilson.    D.    D 240 

Rev.    Wm.    L.    Breckinridge,    D.    D 245 

Rev.    Robert    J.    Breckinridge,    D.    D 246 

Rev.    John    T.    Edgar,    B.    D 250 

Ephraim    M.     Brank     251 

The    Brank    Residence,    Greenville,    Ky 255 

Rev.     John     G.     Fee 260 

Rev.    John    C.    Young,    D.    D 263 

Rev.    Stuart    Robinson,    D.    D 268 

Old    First    Presbyterian   Church,    Louisville    270 

Madision,    Indiana,    Presbyterian    Church    271 

Old   Centre    College    277 

Hutchinson    Memorial    Church,     New    Albany,     Ind 27S 

Rev.   Thomas   B.   Terhune,   D.   D _. 280 

Old-Time   Sacramental   Camp-Meeting    2S 1 

Wm.     A.     Millis     2S4 

Jonathan     Jennings     2S6 

Dr.     Charles     Hodge      2S9 

Rev.    James    K.    Patterson,    D.    D 295 


PROMINENT  PEOPLE  MENTIONED 

Allen,    James    Lane 39 

Alexander,    Archibald    70,    86 

Barnes,    Rev.    Albert 240,    241,    246 

Barton,     Rev.     Wm.     H 52,     55 

Banks,     Rev.     Daniel     C 12 

Banks,     Rev.     Louis     Albert .  . 252 

Ballard,    Rev.    Frank    0 20-28 

Ballard,     John     75,     246 

Baldwin,    Col.    Louis    D 277-220 

Barnard,    Rev.    Jos.    R 30-50 

Barnard,    Geo.     Grey     29-50,     288 

Bernheim,    J.    W 34-38 

Beeeher,    Lyman    99-100,    128-133,    210-216,    224-247,    290 

Beecher,    Henry    Ward 78,     217-223,     290-291 

Beeeher,     George     238-240 

Beecher,     Charles     241,     247 

Blackburn,    Gideon     13-14,     18-19,     20,     65,     90,     95,     276 

Blaokburn,     Jos.     C.     S 276 

Blanchard       96 

Bicknell,     Mrs.     Ernest     P 153 

Black,     Charles     50 

Boione,     Daniel     39 

Brank,      Ephraim      251 

Breckinridge,    Rev.    Robert    J 91,    95,    246-247,    288-290 

Breckinridge,    Rev.    Wm.    L 245-247 

Breckinridge,     John     C 276 

Brown,     John     Mason     195-19  6 

Britan,     W.    A 134-136 

Buell,    Augustus    C 248 

Butler,    Wm.     H.     G 170,     175-184 

Butler,      Noble      181 

Caldwell,     Adaline     C 13-14 

Cameron,     Rev.    Archibald 12,     13,     89 

Campbell,    Alexander    and    Thomas 95,     122-123 

Clay,    Cassius    M 259-266 

Cleland,    Rev.    Thomas    74,    78,    81,    226,    288,    297 

Cleland,     Rev.     P.     S .      78 

Covert,     Wm.     Chalmers 296-299 

Crowe,    John    Finley 11,    20-23,    63,    64,    65,    89,    95,    169,    239 

Curtain,     Governor     35 

Davies,    Samuel    62-63,    85,    191 

Daviess,     Joseph     Hamilton 63 

Derrow,     Rev     Nathan     B 167-168 

Dickey,    Rev.    John    M 12,    23,    88,    134-136 

Dickey,     Rev.     Ninian     88,     129-133,     139-142,     143-151 

Dickey,    Rev.    Sol    C 129-133,    137-142 

Diller,     Isaac    R 51-53 

Doak,    Rev.    Samuel     18-19,     202-203 

Donnell,    Samuel     197 

Downes,    Rev.    F.    S 35 

Douglas,    Stephen    A 41 

Dunn,    Judge     23,     27,     159-168 

Dunning,     Rev.     A.     J 197 

Edwards,    Ninian    W 55 

Edson,    Rev.    Hanford   A 84-88 

Edgar,    Rev.    John    Todd 249-258 

Eggleston,    Edward     XX-XXII,    35,     185-188 

Erdman,    Chas.    R XII,     291 

Fee,    Rev.    John    G 259-266 

Finney,    Rev.    Charles    G 210,    216,    276 

Gale,     Father     146 

Gale,    Rev.    George    W 207-215 

Garrison,    Wm.    Lloyd     205,    241-244,    245-246,    261-263 

Gibson,    Mrs.    Mary    Louise 67.    75-S3 

Glazer,    Prof.     Chas.     R 20 

Green,     Col.     Thomas     M 277-279 

Green,    Rev.    E.    M 60 

Grossman,     Rev.     F.     W 135 

Grubbs,     George     G 47,     48 

Gurley,    Rev.    Phineas    D 43,    54,    94,    288 

Gudgell,       Edward       172-174 

Harrison,   Wm.    Henry    74.    118,    226,    298-299 

Hay,     Ann      73,     115,     286-287 

Hopper,    Rev.    W.    H 11 


Prominent  People  Mentioned,  Continued 

Hikes,     W.     S 72 

Hinchman,     Roy     20 

Hartwell,     Frank     N 38 

Hodge,    Rev.    Charles 3  7,     45,     288-289 

Hurst,     Rev.     F.     M 72-73 

Jaokson,      Andrew       248-258 

Jackson,     Rachel     248,     240 

Jackson,    Prof.    D.    A 21 

Jackson,     Stonewall      191-192 

James,    Prof.    Wm 43 

Jefferson,      Joe      4f. 

Jefferson,     Thomas     97-99,     116.     197 

Jennings,     Jonathan     72-73,     76,     101-127,     286-287 

Jennings,      Ohadiah      120-127 

Johnson,    James    H 23 

Kemper,    Rev.    James 234-235 

Lattimore,     John     160 

Lattimore,     Rev.     Daniel      162 

Lattimore,    Rev.    W.    0 142,     161,     164 

Lincoln,     Abraham     XII-XX,     30-57,     267,     285,     2S8 

Lincoln,     Eddie     Baker 51-52 

Lincoln,     Mary     Todd 30-57 

Lacy,    Rev.    Drury 227-23X 

Lyle,     Rev.     John 197-204 

Little,    Rev.    Henry    ' 132,    143-151 

Logan,     George      23 

Loughrie,     Lemuel      76 

Loughrie,    Mrs.    Elinor    Snowden     76 

Lundy,      Benjamin      64 

Mason,    Rev.    John    Mitchell     97 

Martin,     Prof.    Asa    Earl     64 

Millis.    Wm.    A 26,    63,    239,    281 

Mitchell,      Wm.      D 75-83 

McDowell,     Dr.     Ephraim      83,     9  0 

Moore,     Rev.     James     87 

McMillan,     Pastor     111-114 

McPheeters      288-289 

Nauer,      Wm 20 

Nelson,    Rev.    David     90-94 

Nelson,     Rev.     Samuel     K 91 

Nicholas,      George 198 

Owens,    John    A.    H 66 

Parton,    James     251 

Paine,     Thomas     93 

Priestly,     Dr 28 

Rankin,    Rev.    John     197-209 

Rankin,     Mrs.     John 197-209 

Rankin,     Mary 197-209 

Randall 97-100 

Rice,    Rev.    David     59-62,     70.     85,     95,     195-198,     226-234 

Mother    Rice     61-62 

Rice,    Rev.^N.    L 95-96.     97.     237 

Ritchie,      Gideon      15 

Robinson,      Wm 16 

Robinson,     Rev.     Stuart      267-2t;s 

Roosevelt,    President 39 

Rockefeller,    John    D 47 

Rule,     Rev.     John      200 

Rutledge,     Anne 94 

Searl,     Rev.     Thomas     C 21 

Schachner,     Dr S3 

Sheppard,    Rev.    Wm.    H 292 

Shideler,    Geo.    A.    H 1X6-1 SS 

Smith,    Rev.    James     43.    51-57.     92,     94 

Smith,     Jeanette     53-57 

Snowden,     Francis     13.     14.     77 

Snowden,     Grandmother     13-14 

Snowden,     Samuel      67,      75-83 

Snowden,     Virgil      76 

Snowden,     Richard      14 

Stowe,    Harriet    Beecher    XXI.    200,    206,    232 

Stanlrv,     Senator     Owsley      275-281 

Tarbell,    Ida    M 30 

Taylor,    Rev.    Forest   C 221-223 

Taylor,     Za chary     .  t 


Prominent  People  Mentioned,  Continued 

Taft,    Charles    P 40 

Tennent,    Rev.    Wm 15-17 

Terhune.     Rev.     Thomas     B 279-283 

Todd,    Mary     30,    51 

Todd,     John     Sr S4-85 

Todd,     Parson     John     66-74,     84-88 

Todd,     Jane     67,     75-83 

Turner,    Prof.    Frederick    J XVII-XX 

Vail,     Rev.     P.     Y 229 

Vance,    Rev.    James    12,    72,    73,    74,    234 

Valentine,     the     Sculptor     276 

Van    Dyke,    Rev.    Henry    J 269-273 

Van   Dyke,    Rev.    Henry 274-275,    288-290 

Vawter,     John     152-158 

Vawter,      Jesse       154-156 

Vawter,    Beverly     155 

Venable,    Wm.    H 171-172 

Warren,    Rev.    Edward    L 70-72 

Ward,      Matt       175-184 

Waddell,      Rev.      James      70 

Weld,    Theodore     214-216 

Wesiley,     John      17 

Whallon,     Rev.    E.     P 226,     298-299 

Whaling-,    Rev.    Thornton     189-194,    291 

Witherspoon,     Rev.    John 85 

Witherspoon,     Rev.    Thomas    S 242-245 

Whitenack        81 

Wiggam.     Sehert    Edward     XVII-XX,     172-174,     285,     297 

Whitef  ield      17 

Wilson,     Warren     H. 292,     293-296 

Wilson,    Rev.    Joshua    L 72.    224-247 

Wilson,    Rev.    Samuel    R. 225,    237,    240,    266-275,    288-289 

Wilson,     Judge    Samuel    M 231-233 

Woolfolk,     Mary      77 

Y.oung,   Rev.   John  C 95,    260,    263 

Young,    Rev.   W,m.    C 263 


The  Illustrations  for  this  book   were  made  by 

The  Tinsley-Clingman  Co., 

Louisville,   Ky. 


